FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 10, 2009) — CARF-CCAC, the national non-profit accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities, announced that the accreditation for Shell Point Retirement Community has been renewed for another five year term, and that Shell Point has been certified as a Person-Centered Care Community with additional designations. These specialty designations are Person-Centered Long-Term Care Community: Dementia Care Specialty Program and Person-Centered Long-Term Care Community: Stroke Specialty Program. Shell Point is the first, and currently only, community in the nation to receive the stroke specialty designation.
According to Steve Minniear, vice president of health care services, the desire to participate in the rigorous CARF-CCAC process was part of an ongoing commitment to health care excellence. “For the past five years, Shell Point has been on a journey of quality improvement to its entire health care system. Our health care services have always been recognized for excellence but we felt it was time to take health care to the next level and it has been gratifying to see the result of our initiatives and efforts. While we are pleased to receive this recognition, we receive greater pleasure in knowing that we are providing the finest care possible to our residents.”
An organization that earns CARF-CCAC accreditation is commended on its quest for quality programs and services, and the two new specialty designations highlighting Shell Point’s stroke and dementia care programs underscore the community’s efforts to expand and enhance the services in its skilled nursing center, the Larsen Pavilion.
“This achievement is an indication of the dedication and commitment Shell Point offers to improve the quality of the lives of the persons served,” said Brian J. Boon, president/CEO of CARF-CCAC in a letter to the community announcing the designations. “The services, personnel, and documentation clearly indicate that this organization has an established pattern of conformance to the standards of CARF and CCAC.”
Shell Point’s health care facilities have received a great deal of recognition recently for the services provided in our skilled nursing facility. In addition to receiving these designations from CARF-CCAC, Shell Point’s skilled nursing facility was also recently awarded a Five-Star Rating, the highest possible, from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in December. Shell Point was the only facility in Lee County to receive the Five-Star Rating. And, perhaps most significantly, the community recently completed a $24 million dollar renovation to the skilled nursing facility that was part of an overall $60 million investment in the enhancement and expansion of the health care facilities at Shell Point.
The Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC) was founded in 1985 as the nation’s only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities and similar organizations. In January 2003, CCAC merged with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a nonprofit accreditor founded in 1966 that touches close to six million individuals served in a wide range of human service organizations.
Shell Point Retirement Community is a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community, providing lifecare services to more than 2,100 residents. Shell Point has been nationally accredited since 1992 and is a recognized leader in the retirement industry. The community is located in South Fort Myers, just off Summerlin Road, near Sanibel Island. For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF-CCAC website at www.carf.org. For additional information about Shell Point Retirement Community, visit www.shellpoint.org or call 1-800-780-1131 or (239) 466-1131.
