Isabella Geriatric Center is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

nonsectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...

organization that has provided residential and community-based services for elderly residents of

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since 1875. The main campus is located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

at 515

Audubon Avenue The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

at the corner of 190th Street.

History

When Anna and Oswald Ottendorfer opened the first home in 1875, they named it in honor of Anna's daughter, Isabella Uhl, whose early death at the age of 27 cut short her career in caring for the poor. Isabella had been impressed by the precarious position of aged women without home or family. When confined to bed, Isabella expressed to her mother the wish that she establish an institution to ensure these women refuge and protection. Two years after Isabella's death, Anna Ottendorfer opened Isabella Heimath in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

. The home was originally dedicated to the care of

indigent Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

elderly women, per Isabella Uhl's wishes. Isabella Home moved to its present location in 1889 and simultaneously expanded its mission to care for both women and men, without regard to race, creed or nationality. In 1899, the United States Commission to the Paris exposition of 1900 requested that Isabella Heimath provide photographs for an exhibition on American Charities. For this submission, the home was awarded the silver medal for excellence of its building, services and purposes. After 76 years Isabella outgrew its capacity of 132 residents and the Board of Managers moved to make provisions for more space and expanded services. On December 7, 1965,

Nelson A. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

, then Governor of New York State, dedicated Isabella House, a 17-story building containing 12 floors of furnished apartments, three floors of nursing care and two floors for services and public spaces. The House provided independent living for approximately 250 aged residents. This affordable housing residence for the well elderly was a new concept in institutional care for the aged. At the time, it was the first housing program for the elderly which offered medical and nursing care and a package of social services in a setting where personal freedom and independence was assured. The growth from 132 to approximately 500 residents made it apparent that the original Isabella Home needed to be replaced. Consequently, on April 3, 1972, the 14-story Isabella Nursing Home building was opened. The combination of facility and program expansion in the next few decades helped to create the present day Isabella Geriatric Center. The 1990s once again called for changes and new goals; Isabella began a move to create a more home-like ambiance for residents. For 25 years, from 1991 to 2016, Isabella offered a child care center that, along with the geriatric center provided a unique inter-generational program that benefited both the children served and the residents. In June 2016 Isabella abruptly closed the child care center with little notice.

COVID-19

There are 98 people who may have died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

at the Isabella Geriatric Center. On April 30, 2020,

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

Letitia James Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Und ...

announced that her office would investigate complaints about the center.

Current work

Today, Isabella is a large complex offering a diversity of services. In addition to a 705-bed

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

, Isabella offers independent senior housing, adult day health care,

home care Homecare (also spelled as home care) is health care or supportive care provided by a professional caregiver in the individual home where the patient or client is living, as opposed to care provided in group accommodations like clinics or nursing ho ...

, short- and long-term rehabilitation and a variety of community programs designed to help older adults remain healthy while living at home. Other community-based programs include: * Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Programs *Senior Resource Center *Institute for Older Adults (50+ Club and Walking Works Wonders) *Career Training *Upper Manhattan Partnership for Senior Independence *Caregiver Support Programs

Person centered care model

The Isabella Geriatric Center and Cobble Hill Health Center have been engaged in an ongoing collaboration to explore new ways to enhance person centered care and to construct a model that uses

performance improvement A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

approaches to guide staff in addressing the needs and preferences of residents. They have published a manual on culture change and person-centered care for nursing home staffs, "Getting Better All the Time", which provides practical guidance.

Nursing home certifications

Isabella is a Medicare and Medicaid Certified Nursing Home.

Facility locations

*The main campus, located at 515 Audubon Avenue (190th Street) houses Isabella's Nursing Home and Rehabilitation services and Independent Senior Housing. *Isabella's Senior Resource Center is located at 4026 Broadway (169th Street), New York, NY. Seniors can visit the center with questions about government benefit programs,

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

and to be connected with other community programs. *Isabella's

Home Care Homecare (also spelled as home care) is health care or supportive care provided by a professional caregiver in the individual home where the patient or client is living, as opposed to care provided in group accommodations like clinics or nursing ho ...

program, free Home Health Aide training and other community programs are run at the 5073 Broadway (216th Street) campus. Dedication of Isabella House 1965

Affiliations

Isabella is a member of the following organizations: *Adult Day Health Care Council *Alliance Continuing Care Network *American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging *American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators *

American Geriatrics Society The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a non-profit professional society founded on June 11, 1942, for health care professionals practicing geriatric medicine. Among the founding physicians were Dr. Ignatz Leo Nascher, who coined the term "geri ...

*American Society on Aging *Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC) *Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City *

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) is a social services institution in United States of America. Since its inception in 1922, FPWA has sought to promote the social and economic well-being of greater New York’s most vulnerable ...

Gerontological Society of America The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is a multidisciplinary organization devoted to research and education in all aspects of gerontology: medical, biological, psychological and social. History and organization The Gerontological Society ...

*New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging *New York State Home Care Association

References

External links

{{Commons category, Isabella Geriatric Center
Official website
Non-profit organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1875 1875 establishments in New York (state) COVID-19 pandemic in New York City