by Eugene Paik/For The Star-Ledger
Tuesday June 23, 2009, 7:22 PM
LINCOLN PARK -- With amenities like massages, a Japanese healing garden, a sauna, private suites and a beauty salon, a new rehab center in Lincoln Park is aiming to make life a little easier for patients who have a grueling recovery period ahead of them.
As in any rehab center, simple chores - ironing clothes, shopping for food and planting flowers - are physical challenges for those recovering from physical injuries as they try to ease back into what used to be their daily routines.
But the soon-to-open Jerry and Delores Turco Medical Rehab Center is also offering luxury surroundings, complete with a concierge and day spa, to its patients, according to center officials who offered a preview of the facility today.
"There's really no other place like this," said Toni Loyas, the corporate director of rehabilitation for the center, which is being marketed to baby boomers who want something more than a hospital environment. "You'll be amazed how a simple act becomes difficult when you have crutches."
The centerpiece of the facility is Rehab Road, a simulated neighborhood community which measures more than 2,000 square feet. In it, men and women with walkers can learn to swing a golf club again, practicing their putting around small hole in the front of the room. Patients learning how to unload groceries with a cane can walk over to a Ford Taurus and practice.
The new 65,000-square-feet rehab center is located on the Lincoln Park Healthcare Experience campus, which also features nursing homes, a hospice and another rehabilitation center.
This facility, according to center officials, is the only one of its kind in New Jersey, and they say its amenities distinguish it as one of a handful of pioneers nationwide in luxury rehab centers.
Officials from the state chapter of the National Rehabilitation Association and the New Jersey Hospital Association could not be reached for comment yesterday to verify those claims.
However, some of the scores of invited health-care officials touring the building yesterday were impressed by its opulence.
"I think with people who are 50- to 70-years-old, they're looking for a facility that is like a hotel environment," said Joan Beloff, director of community outreach for Chilton Memorial Hospital.
"The building has all the amenities of a five-star hotel," said Ralph Vitaro, the publisher and president of Drug Delivery Technology magazine. "It's a calming place."
Luxury may be a new trend for rehab centers, say officials at the center, who added that it doesn't accept patients until July 6 but already has seen a demand for rooms.
"People don't want to be somewhere sterile," said Mimi Feliciano, CEO of the center. "Especially the baby boomers - they want something elegant."
That's why Feliciano, the daughter of the late real-estate developer Jerry Turco Sr., spent more than two years on the project, which cost more than $10 million.
"This is what they want," she said. "They want things that are at a different level."
Eugene Paik is a reporter for the New Jersey Local News Service. He can be reached at (908) 243-6240 or epaik@njlns.com.
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/06/luxury_surrounds_may_help_ease.html
Tuesday June 23, 2009, 7:22 PM
LINCOLN PARK -- With amenities like massages, a Japanese healing garden, a sauna, private suites and a beauty salon, a new rehab center in Lincoln Park is aiming to make life a little easier for patients who have a grueling recovery period ahead of them.
As in any rehab center, simple chores - ironing clothes, shopping for food and planting flowers - are physical challenges for those recovering from physical injuries as they try to ease back into what used to be their daily routines.
But the soon-to-open Jerry and Delores Turco Medical Rehab Center is also offering luxury surroundings, complete with a concierge and day spa, to its patients, according to center officials who offered a preview of the facility today.
"There's really no other place like this," said Toni Loyas, the corporate director of rehabilitation for the center, which is being marketed to baby boomers who want something more than a hospital environment. "You'll be amazed how a simple act becomes difficult when you have crutches."
The centerpiece of the facility is Rehab Road, a simulated neighborhood community which measures more than 2,000 square feet. In it, men and women with walkers can learn to swing a golf club again, practicing their putting around small hole in the front of the room. Patients learning how to unload groceries with a cane can walk over to a Ford Taurus and practice.
The new 65,000-square-feet rehab center is located on the Lincoln Park Healthcare Experience campus, which also features nursing homes, a hospice and another rehabilitation center.
This facility, according to center officials, is the only one of its kind in New Jersey, and they say its amenities distinguish it as one of a handful of pioneers nationwide in luxury rehab centers.
Officials from the state chapter of the National Rehabilitation Association and the New Jersey Hospital Association could not be reached for comment yesterday to verify those claims.
However, some of the scores of invited health-care officials touring the building yesterday were impressed by its opulence.
"I think with people who are 50- to 70-years-old, they're looking for a facility that is like a hotel environment," said Joan Beloff, director of community outreach for Chilton Memorial Hospital.
"The building has all the amenities of a five-star hotel," said Ralph Vitaro, the publisher and president of Drug Delivery Technology magazine. "It's a calming place."
Luxury may be a new trend for rehab centers, say officials at the center, who added that it doesn't accept patients until July 6 but already has seen a demand for rooms.
"People don't want to be somewhere sterile," said Mimi Feliciano, CEO of the center. "Especially the baby boomers - they want something elegant."
That's why Feliciano, the daughter of the late real-estate developer Jerry Turco Sr., spent more than two years on the project, which cost more than $10 million.
"This is what they want," she said. "They want things that are at a different level."
Eugene Paik is a reporter for the New Jersey Local News Service. He can be reached at (908) 243-6240 or epaik@njlns.com.
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/06/luxury_surrounds_may_help_ease.html
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