Seniors set sail at new health center at NewBridge on the Charles

Her mother Miriam had just moved into NewBridge on the Charles’ health center, and Lisa Katz was impressed, calling it “gorgeous,” with an atmosphere very much like a home, not a hospital.

“The amenities, it just feels like a hotel,” she said. “Walking in the front lobby, I feel like I’m in a conference center.”

The Katzes ate lunch with Evelyn O’Neill, who taught Miriam in her exercise class at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Roslindale – and said she would keep her at it one day a week in Dedham.

“You’re going to thrive,” O’Neill said.

“I hope so,” replied Miriam, who enjoys “music of any kind” (she used to play piano) and bingo.

She was one of dozens of residents who transferred from Roslindale to Dedham on a big move-in day earlier this month that marked the official opening of NewBridge’s Gloria Adelson Field Health Center, a 266-bed facility focused on long-term care. Hebrew SeniorLife moved 188 people from Roslindale to Dedham in November and December, with an additional 8 to 10 people coming from the community to live in the health center, said NewBridge director of marketing Ruth Stark.

The center includes a recuperative services unit with 48 beds – seven people were receiving short-term rehab care as of last week – and 44 units that provide memory support for seniors living with dementia.

NewBridge’s assisted living residences also include units devoted to memory support; Stark said the difference is that seniors in the health center tend to have physical issues, in addition to dementia.

With the debuts of the independent living homes in June, assisted living in August, and now the health center, “every component of NewBridge is up and running, with the exception of the Rashi School,” which is slated to open next September, Stark said.

In all, well over 500 seniors are living on the 162-acre NewBridge campus on Great Meadow Road.

Lisa Katz liked the reception her mother received on the Wednesday she moved in. “It was nice how when she got off the bus, how the staff and volunteers were greeting her and welcoming her,” said Katz, who lives in Sharon.

Hebrew SeniorLife CEO Len Fishman was among those warmly greeting the new arrivals outside.

The theme indoors was “Setting Sail on the Charles,” with the conservatory decorated with anchors and boats. Frances Silverstein, 85, and Florence Rose, 84, welcomed their friend Ruth Kaufman, 94, nearly a month after they made the move from Roslindale.

“We do love it here. It’s great. It’s like 4-star living,” Silverstein said. Added Rose: “You would never think of this as a long-term care (facility).”

Executive Director Anne Thomas said the health center works on a small health model, with three households of 14 to 16 residents each grouped together into one “neighborhood.” Most of the rooms are private, and some are shared. They encircle the community center, which is the kitchen and den.

“So people share meals together around a family-style table. That’s kind of where the hub of activity is,” Thomas said.

The building also has exercise and activity areas, full-service spa offerings, and a convenience store from Wardle’s Pharmacy, the oldest operating business in Dedham Square.

There are a total of 18 households, or six neighborhoods. In the memory support neighborhood, specially trained staff care for people who have dementia, providing structured daily activity programs tailored to each resident.

“Everything is done around where their strengths lie and how we can still keep them engaged, make them feel good about their lives,” Thomas said, going on to tie in that sentiment to the overall theme of NewBridge on the Charles.

The residents of the health center are in a long-term care facility, she said, “But we want them to feel that they still have a life to live, and we want them to feel (like) a contributor to the world and to the people around them – as opposed to just filling up the remaining days, day to day, with nothing really interesting going on.”

Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.