The New Year is bringing big changes at Riverview HealthCare Campus in Oak Harbor.

A former 10-bed hospice/palliative care unit is being renovated to become the Cottage Cove Rehab Center, a short-stay rehabilitation unit that is slated to open Feb. 16. Riverview plans to continue to accept palliative patients and follow the hospice philosophy in all areas of the building, according to Kimberly Geldien, public relations coordinator for the facility.

All the short-stay suites offer private accommodations complete with telephones, CD and DVD players and cable television.

“The rooms are beautifully decorated with more of a ‘homelike’ touch,” Geldien said. “The unit also includes a beautiful spacious lounge overlooking the Portage River.”

Separate dining and lounge areas have been designed to give patients coming in for short stays the opportunity to rehab in a separate, small and more private area.

“These units will be perfect for the younger patient wanting to dine in a more private space and will be located very close to our main rehab clinic complete with a gym-like setting so that patients can receive their therapy and return home quickly,” Administrator Kendra German said.

 “Most short-stay patients really want the private room with the amenities,” said Kimberly Geldien, public relations coordinator for the facility.

Also in the works at Riverview, is a new long-term care area entitled “Scenic Falls Walkway.” The area, which will be the new home of 11 long-term care residents, will include “The Niagara Suite” and “Silver Cascade Falls Suite,” among others. The unit will also have a separate dining area overlooking a beautiful courtyard.

Many of the residents are looking forward to making the move to this new “Person-Centered Care Community,” Geldien said.

“This will be the first actual separate ‘community’ Riverview has created toward its goal of residents forming tight-knit family type bonds,” said Meleny Bonnell, social worker for the facility.

She added that all residents at Riverview are afforded the benefits of the Person-Centered Care Ideal, which is to choose the time to dine and what to eat, when to bathe and make other personal choices about care and activities, but this is the first time a separate area has been created.

The dining room in the Cottage Cove Rehab Center will offer a private area for short-stay rehabilitation patients to dine during their stay at Riverview

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