Aging Services Director of Nursing Facility and Adult Care Homes Sheri Jurad presented each facility with a plaque at the third annual Person-Centered Care Conference in Manhattan, hosted by the Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas Nursing Homes (PEAK) program Advisory Group.

"Through their commitment to PEAK, these outstanding facilities have and continue to make significant progress toward changing the way nursing home services are provided to frail, elderly Kansas and improving their quality of life," KDADS Secretary Laura Howard said. "I want to congratulate the staff and the leadership of this year’s 18 facilities for their hard work and commitment to excellence.”

Currently, 306 nursing facilities in Kansas and 141 participated in the PEAK Program in State Fiscal Year 2024.

The facilities recognized for their work as person-centered care homes that have moved away from institutional models of care in fiscal year 2024 are:

• Brewster Health Center
• FW Huston Medical Center
• Pleasant View Home
• St. Luke’s Living Center 
• Stevens County/Pioneer Manor
• Villa St. Francis 

The facilities recognized for their work in sustaining person-center care in fiscal year 2024 are:

• Caritas Center, Inc.
• Crestview Nursing and Residential Living
• Pine Village
• Prairie Mission Retirement Village
• The Shepherd’s Center

The facilities recognized for their work as Mentor Homes, facilities that have mentored other adult care homes in implementing person-centered care in fiscal year 2024, are:

• Attica Long Term Care
• Evergreen Retirement Community
• Dooley Center
• Hill Top House
• Leonardville Nursing Home
• Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community
• The Nichol Home

For more than 20 years, KDADS has recognized nursing homes for successfully implementing positive culture change through the PEAK program. As a result, accommodating the personal preferences of nursing facility residents has become as important as providing the vital services and supports their residents need.

Today’s " Elevate and Celebrate” conference included nursing facility staff from across the organization. CNAs, nurses, housekeepers, dietary staff, and leadership attended training sessions that included practical applications focused on improving life for seniors in our state’s nursing facilities. Sessions aimed to be engaging and interactive and incorporate best practices in topics such as highlighting October as Resident’s Rights Month using ‘The Power of Voice’ as this year’s theme, individualizing culinary experiences, creating an accessible garden, nursing and risk, and a Pilates for Older Adults workout.

It has been an exciting year for PEAK initiatives. Full site visits continued in the spring, and the KDADS/Kansas State University (KSU) team completed 16 in-person facility evaluations. July 2024 brought the second year for the revised PEAK program that features the same person-centered care criteria but new and improved incentives and fresh new materials and branding. The new structure was developed collaboratively between the PEAK Advisory Group, involved nursing facilities, KSU, and KDADS. August saw the first meeting of the newly appointed SFY25 PEAK Advisory Group members, and discussions to plan the 2024 conference were swiftly underway. The advisory team is planning a survey to gather feedback from participating and nonparticipating homes.   

KDADS continues its contract with KSU’s Center on Aging to develop training materials and assist nursing home providers transitioning to person-centered care. It also continues to build PEAK training and educational opportunities for nursing facility management and staff.