Palliative Care Facility Celebrates First Anniversary

Shoreview, Minn., February 2012—Saint Therese, a faith-based senior care and housing organization, celebrated the first anniversary of its St. Odilia campus at 3500 Vivian Avenue, Shoreview the end of January.

Saint Therese at St. Odilia is unique in the Twin Cities metro area, offering care in an intimate eight bedroom residential home located on the campus of the St. Odilia Catholic Community. Residents, aging from 42 to late 90’s, receive high levels of care while in the comforts of a home-like setting.

“Our goal is to offer individualized care as much as possible – if a resident has a desire for a specific meal, we are happy to make it. Taking care of people, it is what we do,” explained Jolene Baker, RN, Saint Therese at St. Odilia Nurse Manager.

Over the past year, over 50 individuals and families have been served. The Saint Therese at St. Odilia model of care provides licensed nurses on-site 24 hours a day and one to two certified nursing assistants for each shift. This staffing allows the facility to provide high levels of care, while maintaining the comforts of a home-like setting. Individuals most appropriate to receive services at Saint Therese at St. Odilia would typically have a chronic condition and/or terminal illness such as cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. In addition, this model of care delivery adopts palliative and hospice philosophies of care, where the goals of care promote comfort rather than curative measures.

Palliative care is a holistic approach to addressing the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and cultural needs of a resident. It is designed to improve the quality of life at the time when an individual’s disease may not be responsive to curative treatment. One with chronic or terminal illness may receive this type of care over a longer period of time than traditional hospice care.

Saint Therese is a nonprofit faith-based organization that has focused on the well-being of individuals since it opened in 1968. The organization provides a continuum of care including assisted living, rehabilitation and fitness, memory care, transitional care, senior housing and palliative care. Saint Therese’s campuses are located in New Hope, Brooklyn Park and Shoreview. To learn more visit sttheresemn.org

Release by Saint Therese on February 1, 2012.