GREECE, N.Y. — Newsweek has named Park Ridge Living Center in Greece one of America’s Best Nursing Homes. The facilities are located behind Unity Hospital and run by Rochester Regional Health. 

Mrs. Terry Radel still has a quick wit at age 94, “I don’t have many problems for an old broad,” she joked when meeting with News10NBC.  She walked 6 miles per day for more than 50 years, traveled the world and adored her husband, but her proudest accomplishments are her kids. 

“Our mother has been great, our parents have been great, so I mean it’s just our turn to take care of them,” her two sons, Shawn and Bill, say.   

Mrs. Radel’s progression to long-term care was slow. “She went from independent to assisted and then eventually to memory care and then just recently was hospitalized and that’s how she came here,” explains Shawn. 

In the 40-bed rehabilitation facility at Park Ridge Living Center, patients get whatever therapies they need while recovering after a hospital stay.  The majority of patients are then able to go home, but some, like Mrs. Radel, are transitioned into nursing home care at what’s called “the cottages.”

“The cottages have all private rooms, the units are set up so you’re taking care of 10 residents at a time,” explains Dan Morphet, the administrator. “All the meals are served at a big dining room table, breakfast is cooked to order, I mean we really bring it to being like at home as much as it can be.” 

Each cottage has a total of 20 residents, one RN, one LPN, four CNAs, a chef and a housekeeper. The model caught the attention of Newsweek, which this week named Park Ridge Living Center one of America’ Best Nursing Homes. 

“We just show up every day to do what we love to do the most, which is to take care of our elders, our residents,” says Natasha Jackson, the director of nursing. 

Newsweek considered performance and inspection data, resident satisfaction and management of COVID-19 when determining the rankings for 2024. As with all nursing homes, finding enough qualified employees is a challenge but Morphet says most of his employees are long-term and actually help recruit. “Quite honestly, a lot of our referrals come from other employees that already work here and that’s probably the best referral source we can get,” Morphet says.

For the Radels, the new ranking is nice but the day-to-day operations at Park Ridge Living Center are what matter. “it’s our mom, you’re going to worry but they’ve actually put our mind at ease here and it’s been great,” says Shawn. 

Other local nursing homes made the list as well, to review it:  America’s Best Nursing Homes 2024 100-149 Beds (newsweek.com)

To review inspection records for all nursing homes in New York State: https://profiles.health.ny.gov/nursing_home/index#5.79/42.868/-76.809