`HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS' AVAILABLE FOR SOME NURSING HOME PATIENTS AND FAMILIES

A number of area nursing home patients will be "Home for the Holidays" on Thanksgiving day.

Nursing home patients who are unable to travel except by ambulance will be transported Wednesday and Thursday of this week, and again on Dec. 24-25 to any county residence by the Stoddard County Ambulance Service (SCAD).

"We feel that Thanksgiving and Christmas are times that people should be together," said David Cooper, SCAD director. "This service is being offered free-of-charge to patients who are non-ambulatory, in all nursing homes in our county."

"This allows the patients to spend some time at home with their families," Cooper said.

The choice of going home on Wednesday or Thursday is up to the patients and their families, said Cooper. The patients may stay as long as they wish on their visits, whether it's just a few hours or overnight.

The return trips can be scheduled for Thursday or Friday.

Cooper said all four of the service's ambulances are used throughout the county to transport nursing home residents. There is a backup ambulance that can be called out if an emergency call comes up, but generally freeing up an ambulance on short notice is not difficult.

Stoddard County Ambulance Service ambulances have been delivering good cheer on Thanksgiving by providing rides for nursing home residents to their families' homes for the past 11 years.

"This has been a good program for us," said Cooper. "Totals have ranged from eight to 15 people each holiday period."

Anyone interested in the program should contact the activity directors in Stoddard County nursing homes. The nursing homes will make the arrangements with the ambulance district, Cooper said.

Or, for additional information, contact Monti Cooper, program coordinator, at the ambulance district's office in Dexter, (573) 624-4528.

"An emergency definitely takes priority," she said. "But we're used to that. We're a pretty busy district."

Judy Nall, a licensed practicing nurse at the Advance Nursing Home, said Home for the Holidays lets many people go home who would be unable to otherwise.

"It's a fantastic program," said Nall. "It mean so much to some of the residents here. They're anxious to be home with their families for the holidays."

Three residents at Advance have signed up for the program, and "there will be more," said Nall.

The reaction is the same at other nursing homes.

"We think it's a wonderful program," said Julie Allen, executive director at Beverly Health & Rehabilitation at Bloomfield. "It gives residents an opportunity to be with their families for the holiday."

"It's a great program," said Mary Lou Daun, of the Beverly Health & Rehabilitation Center at Dexter.