NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Whether you’re planning ahead or making an unexpected decision, choosing a nursing home for your loved one can be a difficult decision—assessing a facility and the care its staff provides.
So, it is welcome news when families in Westchester County and the region hear that a local and outstanding skilled nursing facility such as United Hebrew of New Rochelle has been selected by the American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) to receive its 2017 Eli Pick Facility Leadership award. The recognition honors top-performing facilities and the leaders who help them excel.
“We’re so proud, of course, of the many accolades our campus receives,” said Ms. Mabli of the string of United Hebrew of New Rochelle’s recent recognitions. “These honors affirm that Westchester has an award-winning jewel is in our midst: a campus of compassionate care delivered in the best possible way.”
As President & CEO of United Hebrew, Rita Mabli is recognized by the ACHCA as a leader of distinction whose team has achieved organizational excellence reached by fewer than nine percent of nursing homes nationwide. Recipients are selected based on several quality measures (low numbers of residents who report being in pain and low hospital readmission rates for short-stay residents, for example) using publicly collected data by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Under Ms. Mabli’s leadership, United Hebrew’s nursing home, located on its 7.5-acre campus of comprehensive care, beat state and national averages in several categories. Fewer than 1.8% of its residents complained of pain over the last year, compared with 5.1% in New York State, and 7.8% nationwide, for instance.
The skilled nursing facility is part of United Hebrew’s campus of care, which provides a broad array of supportive care for seniors including skilled nursing, Burke Rehabilitation at United Hebrew, Willow Towers Assisted Living, Willow Gardens Memory Care for those with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, independent senior housing, and home health care.
Array of honors for superior care
In its award notification, the ACHCA, an industry leadership association that provides professional education and certification to administrators from across the spectrum of long term care, said it “firmly believes that post-acute and aging services facility excellence is a reflection of leadership excellence.” Ms. Mabli’s outstanding leadership has resulted in United Hebrew receiving high marks from several other entities that assess healthcare.
Named among the “Best Nursing Homes” by U.S. News & World Report for the past six years, United Hebrew has also earned the coveted five-star rating by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a level achieved by only 22 percent of nursing homes nationwide. It has also placed in the top tier of New York State’s nursing home rankings. In addition, United Hebrew’s home health care division received five stars out of five from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, a rating far superior to many similar organizations in Westchester, New York State, and the nation.
Ms. Mabli said the awards were earned by her committed staff members, many of whom often cite the top-down culture of kindness and respect she has created as a reason they are so devoted to their work. As a result, United Hebrew has one of the lowest staff turnover rates in New York State and is able to provide a consistency of care that is unparalleled.
“It’s very important to me that our entire staff be recognized for their passion for offering residents the highest quality of life possible,” said Ms. Mabli, who has worked at United Hebrew since 1976, and overseen the organization’s transformation from its modest beginnings into an innovative, state-of-the-art campus of eldercare. “I share the honor with our dedicated staff. They treat each other, and our residents, like family.”