By Anthony Welch

The Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center’s mission is simple: To improve the lives of people we touch, according to Marketing Director Deb Channel.

“They sacrificed for us. We owe it to them,” she said. “This is their home and their final stop.”

The center is a CMS 5 Star-Rated veterans nursing home that includes 120 long-term care beds in just outside of Walsenburg, located in Huerfano County.  Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center serves veterans, spouses, widows and Gold-Star parents of veterans. Colorado residency is not a requirement for residency. The center strives daily to provide exceptional quality of care and quality of life is the goal.

“It is our honor and privilege to care for our residents and their families,” Channel added.

The Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center has an all-inclusive pricing policy that includes the following:

• Private and semi-private rooms
• 24-hour nursing care: licensed nurses available to monitor and assess ongoing medical condition, administer and manage medications, wound care, and coordination of care
• Certified nurse aides to assist with activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, grooming, and using the restroom
• Secure Memory Care Unit available
• Prescriptions and medications
• Ambulation aids (walkers, wheelchairs, etc.)
• Transportation to and from medical appointments
• Oxygen (portable, CPAP, BiPAP, etc.)
• Physician services by on-site primary care physician
• Meals, special diets, and rehabilitative silverware (with extended dining hours to suit resident schedules)
• Initial dental exam
• Diversified activity program (sports outings, fishing, museums, shopping trips, games, and so much more)
• Religious services
• Library Service
• Resident Social Services: Social Services provides assessment of resident cognition and mood status. Those results are used to design care plans to manage the disease process. Social Services also works closely with the family to support them as they cope with the decline of their loved ones
• Veterans Service Officer on-site: develops and submits claims for V.A. Pensions and Compensation applications as needed and provides liaison between the V.A. and the Veterans of SPVCLC
• Enhanced spa bathing with whirlpool bath tubs
• Phone, satellite TV, and Wi-Fi services in-room
• Family support groups
• Housekeeping services
• Laundry services
• Hospice services
• Personal Funds Assistance for residents – personal need account available through our business office so residents have quick, easy access to funds for clothing and other personal items
• Specialty equipment (bariatric wheelchairs, transfer bars, etc.)

Of course residing next to the Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center means veterans have access to quality health care without having to be transported to VA hospitals, according to Channel.  Doctors are onsite 24/7.

She added that the center strives to keep veterans busy with a variety of activities as well. That includes trips to music festivals, zoos and entertainment is brought to the center on a regular basis.

“We do as much as we can,” Channel mentioned.

The center is experiencing a transition where there are fewer World War II veterans and more from the Vietnam and even Afghanistan eras.

“We’re adjusting to meet the needs of those veterans,” Channel said.

For more on Spanish Peaks, visit www.sprhc.org.