The advanced care center is Russell Medical's newest facility with a primary focus on geriatric care.
The center is also part of The Benjamin Russell Legacy Project, which is a multi-phase project that includes independent living cottages and an assisted living facility as well. The Hendrix Cottages are already coming out of the ground, while the 32-bed Ben and Luanne Assisted Living Facility is still on the way.
The advanced care center offers four specialties, including geriatrics, endocrinology, rheumatology and adult psychiatry. At Russell Medical since 2017, Dr. Robert Edwards returned to school to be a geriatrician, head up the advanced care center and helped make this center possible.
Edwards describes geriatric patients as anyone over 80, anyone 65 to 80 with medical frailty or anyone with a neurodegenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.
“There’s only a few of us in Alabama, mostly centered around academic centers,” Edwards said. “There’s a few geriatrics trained doctors that are out on their own, but it’s not many. So, then this idea came to us that, ‘Hey, we have resources in place at home.”
What Edwards hopes to accomplish in the new center is a home base for all his patients. He wants it to be a one-stop shop for patients and their families, and sometimes that goes beyond the scope of medicine.
“These patients need time,” Edwards said. “We need to spend time with them. These are not simple in-and-out, 10-minute visits. These are families, sometimes multiple family members. Most of the time we’re trying to pull resources to aid in the care of these patients. We’re doing a lot of social work even, just trying to get resources to try to make sure we have the proper caregiving.”
In addition to new services, the center will also allow Edwards and his team to serve more patients. Edwards said he wasn’t the only piece of the puzzle for the advanced care center to be a success.
“(Project manager) Kimberly Carter, her financial management and orchestrating of all the working parties involved in bringing such a place to being is nothing short of spectacular,” Edwards said. “Over the last two or three years, her focus has steered the course toward today.”
Carter, director of business development and physician relations, also worked closely with chief medical officer Dr. Michelle Goldhagen on the design of the building and cottages.
“Her guidance and good taste are always fun to work with,” Edwards said. “She has been a consistent help throughout the process and always helps point us forward.”
Edwards said he would be remiss if he didn’t mention the work of Peace, who helped create the vision for the Benjamin Russell Legacy Project as a whole.
“We never seem to mention the chief, but it’s his leadership that leads us to times like these time and time again,” Edwards said, during the ribbon cutting. “The man loves this community. He constantly steers the ship toward improving the care of our town. He is respected throughout the state as a healthcare leader, and this day is part of his vision and inspired very much by him.”
Peace said the idea of the advanced care center has been in the making since 2014.
“At its core, this is the future of medicine for our community,” Peace said. “We’re seeing our community age, and we’re seeing more people move into our community. We’re watching people invest in our community and invest in our lake and our area. What better way to support them than to create an opportunity for them to get healthcare that they can’t get elsewhere?”
