The Importance of Health Care in Choosing a Senior Living Community

Health care is an important piece of the puzzle.

I'm not the kind of person that takes my health for granted. I've led an active life and I relish my good health. So, when the time came to start looking into a senior living community, health was one of my biggest concerns. I've had diabetes for years, and have had a couple of knee and back surgeries, and so I know first-hand how frustrating dealing with doctors, hospitals, insurance, and all that can be. I'd also heard horror stories from friends about communities whose in-house care was less than could be expected, and friends who had expected that they knew what they were getting into, only to see their medical bills skyrocket month after month. So I had some pretty concrete ideas of what I didn't want from a community, especially where health care was concerned.

That was one of the biggest factors influencing my decision to go with The Heritage of Green Hills. Their comprehensive, community-wide Well by Design program isn't just a health care add-on, it's integral to their whole philosophy, and it's designed to enrich my life and keep me healthy, not just address problems as they arise. It offers a full range of services included in my monthly fee. There's a full-time Health Services Navigator always available to help with any and all health-related needs. They provide assistance with just about anything I could want, from coordinating medical appointments, hospitalizations, and discharges, to collaborating with emergency personnel in the event of a 911 call. They even helped me get my Living Will and Advance Directive taken care of, something that I'd been putting off far too long, partly just because the whole concept sounded so complicated to me. The Health Services Navigator at The Heritage helped make it easy!

The Heritage of Green Hills has many physical activities.

There are also a lot of physical activity programs at The Heritage of Green Hills, and something like 80% of their residents participate in one every day. I know that I do! I think I'm more active since I moved here than I ever was when I was younger! Lindsay, the American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer here provides a lot of great physical activities, and since she's also an Aquatic Fitness professional, most of those involve the pool!

One of my favorite things about the health care services at The Heritage of Green Hills, though, is that it's a fee-for-service community, which means that I only pay for the services I use. After talking with friends in other communities who paid exorbitant fees for medical and health services care, even when they didn't use it, I wanted to make sure that all my retirement money went toward giving me the lifestyle that I've worked hard for. With the fee-for-service advantage at The Heritage, I pay for only what I use, which leaves me with more left over for other things!