December 20, 2018
St.Amant’s River Road Place has been on a journey of change, from a developmental centre to a health care centre. As long-term residents have transitioned to the community, and the program has changed its admission and discharge criteria, we are at a point where it’s time to reflect on what we call this program. The name “St.Amant Health & Transition Services” was chosen to ensure that all of our stakeholders understand the nature of the services we offer – we will no longer be a place where people come to live indefinitely, but a place where people with disabilities come for specialized, temporary support. The goal will be to transition people receiving services back home (either back to the home where they came from or to a new permanent home) and a lot of the work of the service areas will be on getting people ready to transition and in making those transitions successful.
Adult Health
The adult health units will support people over the age of 25 who have complex continuing care needs that require intervention or the support of a 24-hour nursing team and/or temporary support until a community option is available. The Adult Health service will continue to offer respite as a service to families who are supporting their family member at home and this unit will also support the palliative care needs of people with intellectual disabilities who are nearing end of life.
Last, as there are some residents who have lived it River Road for the majority of their life and are either not comfortable or interested in moving to a community option. These people will continue to reside in the Adult Health service as a long-term care option until either, their health care needs change and they can no longer be supported at our site, or if they decide to explore community options.
Child and Young Adult Health
Similar in scope to the Adult Health service, the Child and Young Adult Health service will offer medical, palliative and respite for youth up to 25 years of age. These services will be of a transitional nature and a large focus will be on preparing people for transition and supporting community transitions.
Stabilization
The stabilization service offered will support children and adults who are referred to St.Amant for specific clinical intervention. This could be to support increase skills after an acquired brain injury or to support a change in behaviour. This service will also support people whose living arrangements may have changed and require stabilization before the person can return to a stable environment.
You will begin to see our service areas using the new names in the New Year.