Concierge Caring: Plymouth Harbor Adds Another Level of Peace of Mind

By Carol Brzozowski | Feature Photo by Nancy Guth | July/August 2021

Plymouth Harbor on Sarasota Bay is a not-for-profit Life Plan Community (also known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community) that provides independent living, home care, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care and short-term rehabilitation services. Located on Sarasota Bay, it serves a multi-generational population between the ages of 60 to more than 100 years old. 

It was originally founded in 1966 by The Rev. Dr. John Whitney MacNeil, a Congregational minister who also was instrumental in founding New College.

“Plymouth Harbor is occupied by individuals who are very engaged in the local and world communities and come from all walks of life,” says Gordon Okawa, Plymouth Harbor’s Vice President of Marketing and Community Affairs. “Plymouth Harbor tends to attract people who want to continue lifelong learning and value a whole person wellness philosophy as well as proactively living a simpler lifestyle.”

“It’s such a fantastic community. We’re always looking for what more we can be doing next,” notes Heather Dawn, Plymouth Harbor’s Director of Care Management.

To that end, Plymouth Harbor added in-house concierge care management to its full continuum of services.

“Our care managers are registered nurses who fill in the gaps throughout the continuum – that is, one person who is a liaison and an advocate for the resident, responsible for following through with every aspect of health care from the emergency room to the rehabilitation center, from home care to assisted living, or just remaining in independent living,” notes Dawn.

Dawn is unaware of any other community locally that has in-house care management; rather, it’s typically outsourced.

“As an in-house care manager, I already know all of the key team members in our community,” says Dawn. “I work closely with the administrator of assisted living/memory care, the director of nursing for Smith Care Center, and other directors throughout the Plymouth Harbor community.

“That makes it much easier for communication and continuity. Being in-house, we are here at any moment when people pick up the phone and contact us.”

Dawn’s advocacy brings comfort to family members, many of whom may live far away from their loved ones.

“When Plymouth Harbor started this new service, I definitely saw the benefit for the residents,” she says. “I didn’t anticipate how quickly this demand was going to grow from the family members. Care management becomes almost like a surrogate family member and the comfort and the peace that it gives them of knowing that there’s somebody right there if their loved one goes to the emergency room is invaluable.”

Care management is there for residents not only with medical issues, but also other personal matters.

A typical scenario is where care management helped a resident whose spouse always took responsibility for all their legal issues, their billing issues, and the insurance.

“When that spouse passed away, this resident was pretty lost,” says Dawn. “They never took care of those matters before. Both family members live out of state and we facilitated getting things together for the son to take over for power of attorney. We were able to find out that this resident had a long-term care insurance policy no one knew about. We were then able to activate that, and now most of her care is being covered under that long-term care policy.”

Another resident without family is having memory difficulties and has an attorney serving as power of attorney.

“After working through this resident’s records, we discovered a signed note saying that this person’s wish was to remain in independent living with 24/7 caregivers should this person be unable to make decisions for themselves. This enabled us to help them honor their wishes. Nobody was aware of that.”

Dawn says their service gives family members comfort to know that when there is an emergency in the middle of the night, the care manager will show up at the emergency room within the hour and be able to relay information back to the family and communicate with the physicians.

“We are also there for the family to facilitate having difficult conversations. Basically, we make it easier for family to be family. They can concentrate on being the daughter or the son instead of being a full-time caregiver.”

“I used to live in Hawaii and my father was here in Sarasota,” says Dawn. “It is so scary when you’re not there and can’t get there right away. I think that is a really special aspect to this program.”

“Plymouth Harbor always encourages our team members to further their education and do other things to contribute,” she says. “I encourage our care managers to do the same.”

Dawn has filled many roles at Plymouth Harbor since she started there in 1983: a certified nursing assistant, a licensed practical nurse, a registered nurse and now as a care manager.

“This is like family and it’s really awesome to look back on the growth and the changes that have evolved here at Plymouth Harbor,” she says. “Being able to be a part of that is wonderful.

“For me personally, I think that it’s amazing how all different experiences in my personal life as a caregiver for family members and in my professional life in the community as a nurse have come together and collided in the perfect time and in the perfect moment and the perfect place to be utilized in this position,” says Dawn.

For more information about Plymouth Harbor, call 941.365.2600 or visit PlymouthHarbor.org.