Sept. 10, 2009 (Overland Park, Kan.) — Village Shalom today officially unveiled the remodeled and expanded Wang Rehabilitation Center to a gathering of residents, employees and members of the community. The renovation project was made possible through generous donations from Norman and Elaine Polsky and the Morgan Family Foundation.

Ida Rose (Skipper) and Leo Feingold, representing the Morgan family, and Norman and Elaine Polsky participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and formal dedication of the facility, along with Matthew E. Lewis, president and CEO, and James M. Klein, chairman of the Board of Directors of Village Shalom.

The reconstruction of the physical therapy facility upgraded existing space and increased the usable area by 67 percent, bringing the total area to more than 1,500 square feet. The expanded space incorporates a new, private treatment room for individualized therapy, evaluations, consultations or privacy when patients must partially disrobe to receive treatment. In addition to traditional therapy equipment, the physical therapy area now includes a kitchen and appliances that will be used for cooking assessments (i.e., ability to manage kitchen skills in one’s own home), functional mobility training and group activities.

The Wang Rehabilitation Center is utilized by Village Shalom residents as well as by non-residents requiring specialized physical therapy following illness, injury or surgery. An average of 10 non-resident patients and 40-60 Village Shalom residents utilize the facility per month.

“The volume of therapy patients that Village Shalom serves has more than doubled since this space originally opened,” said Lewis in his remarks at the dedication ceremony. “Village Shalom is regarded in the Kansas City metro area as an exceptional provider of therapy services, and qualitatively, our therapy staff achieves better outcomes in quicker time frames than comparable senior facilities.”

Klein added that “as board chairman, I’ve seen the programs at Village Shalom from many perspectives.” He noted that he came to truly appreciate the work of the therapy department when his mother recently used its services during a temporary stay in Village Shalom’s skilled-nursing area.

“The fact that Norman and Elaine Polsky and the Morgan Family Foundation have done something nice for Village Shalom in enabling this renovation is not new,” Klein said. “Places like Village Shalom exist because of the kindness of people like them.”

Norman Polsky addressed the gathering, saying, “We think Village Shalom is one of the best facilities we’ve ever been involved in. Elaine and I are proud” to help fund the renovation. Elaine Polsky initiated the idea for the renovation after her own experience as a Wang Rehabilitation Center out-patient after hip surgery last year.

Skipper Feingold echoed that sentiment on behalf of the Morgan Family Foundation: “The fact that I’m able to stand here and talk to you is due to the care I got right here in therapy. I’m happy to help dedicate this facility.”

Prior to the opening ceremony, Kelli Hallingquest, rehabilitation program coordinator at Village Shalom, expressed her delight at the increased and modernized space in which therapists and their patients can now work. “I feel like the patients and staff have so much more room to spread out now.” She explained that the rehabilitation area can now comfortably accommodate 15- 20 patients at a time, whereas the original area was filled to capacity with 10-15 patients.

The new space allows for added staff, more individualized patient treatment and more privacy – especially if the patient needs to remove clothing for treatment. “We had limited space to serve several different functions,” she said, “but now we’re able to provide one-on-one privacy with just the patient and the therapist, and no interruptions. It may not seem like a big thing, but if you’re the patient, it’s a big thing.”

Hallingquest interjected that the expansion now offers room for additional equipment that is still on the physical therapy department’s “wish list” to further enhance patient treatment. “We’re still trying to acquire a stationary recumbent bike, an upper-body exerciser and mobile vital-sign stations like the ones used by nurses.”

But she appreciates the new space for what it already provides: more organization. “Before, we were putting things wherever we could find room. Now, everything has a place.”