A dream realized

Trey Prudhomme still believes he is dreaming.
Even though the ribbon cutting for the newly constructed multi-million Heritage Manor Nursing Home located at 2020 West Main Street in Ville Platte is a mere few days away, Prudhomme still can’t believe that his longtime dream has finally become a reality.
“It still feels like it’s not real,” said Prudhomme, who serves as Heritage Manor Administrator. “This was my goal -- my dream when I first arrived here. Even though we are only days away from having patients here in this gorgeous facility it still feels like a dream.”
The new Heritage Manor Nursing Home is scheduled to begin housing patients on Saturday, Sept. 17th, pending approval from Louisiana Department of Health.
A total of 105 patients from the old facility at 220 S. Thompson, including 50 evacuees from the Baton Rouge area, will all be moved in on that day. An open house-ribbon cutting will be held this coming Wednesday.
“We are happy to be able to reinvest in our community,” Prudhomme said. “We can’t wait to show everyone what we are going to be able to do here.”
What those visitors will see when walking through the facility, which is at this moment being decorated with paintings and other art items, is one of the most state-of-the-art nursing home care centers in the state, which currently has 30 names on a waiting list.
The new facility has a centrally located nurses station with four large hallways off the station. These four hallways have single-person rooms on both sides, and with three other smaller hallways with single-rooms as well. Heritage Manor will accommodate up to 122 residents.
There is also a plan to have computer kiosks set up in the hallways, as well as the main nursing station being Smart Chart, advanced IT system, capable after the first of the year.
Directly off the main station there are two large day rooms for entertaining residents throughout the daytime. There is also a conference room down one hallway that families can utilize for privacy.
“Families can come and visit with their loved ones in this room, instead of the standard rooms,” Prudhomme said. “They could even have a small birthday party if they wanted.”
The new facility also has a skilled rehab wing which has a large dining room and a physical therapy room-gym that has weight machines that are wheelchair accessible.
“People that are leaving the hospital for pneumonia or hip replacement surgery can be come here for short term rehab and then will be able to return home,” Prudhomme said.
In addition to a massive main dining hall and kitchen, the facility also has a hair salon, security cameras, key pad locks on doors, and bracelet monitoring preventing patients from wandering out of the building.
There is also a secured Alzheimer’s and dementia wing, which has eight rooms with 16 beds and a separate fenced courtyard area for those patients.
The new Heritage Manor also has a massive 24,000 square foot-shelter on the property. The metal structure is designed to house more than a hundred beds, and has showers and rest rooms.
“We are responsible for our facilities further south,” Prudhomme explained. “In an evacuation for a hurricane or flooding they are able to come here and be cared for.
“It is a 24,000 square foot building I hope I never have to use,” Prudhomme said.
The main building already has had a 300KW backup generator installed, and the old location’s fairly new 400KW backup generator will be relocated to the new facility as well.
The need to invest in an up-to-date facility, as parts of Heritage Manor’s old location were constructed in 1963, finally came to pass last year when Pathway Management, which owns 31 properties in Louisiana, signed off on the construction of the new complex.
That decision is allowing Prudhomme to see his dream come true, nearly 16 years after taking over at Heritage Manor.
“I had no idea that this would ever happen,” Prudhomme said. “Our ownership, years ago, began looking at rebuilding homes. I didn’t know when or even if we would get rebuilt. Finally the ownership realized that our old building was so antiquated and impractical for modern use that it was time to move on.”
The construction, done by general contractor Ratcliff Construction out of Alexandria, began last July and was completed this August.
Even though the construction had been completed there was still plenty of work that needed to be done. Besides the hiring of 20 new employees, Prudhomme and his housekeeping team cleaned the place top to bottom, while deliveries of new beds and furniture arrived.
Helping him and his staff in all of this were employees from some of the company’s other nursing homes in Opelousas, Alexandria and St. Martinville.
“There help has just been invaluable,” Prudhomme said. “It has simply been amazing.”
With so many moving pieces and learning the lay of the land of a new complex, Prudhomme admits there will be some challenges moving forward in the transition period, but those are challenges he and his staff are ready for.
“It is going to be a learning experience for everyone,” Prudhomme said. “The way we operated at the old location will be different than how we do things now. It will be a big learning curve but one we are happy to take on.”