Laughing out loud on Long Island.

Long-term care and comedy don't seem to go together too well. The realities of underfunded facilities, overworked staff, and ailing residents aren't amusing. But one facility was able to incorporate comedy into a terrific evening that generated funds for its rehabilitation program.

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Island Nursing and Rehab Center in Holtsville, New York, held Comedy Night at The Island on September 24. This entertaining fundraiser featured four standup comedians and raised money to purchase much-needed rehab equipment. "The proceeds of the program went for the rehab department, since we do have an extensive subacute program for rehabilitation," says David Fridkin, FACHE, administrator and CEO. "We have to make sure it's an easy transition from the hospital to the subacute unit and back to the community." Island Nursing is a 120-bed facility that offers long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, subacute care, and respite and hospice services.

Fridkin says the facility had originally planned to hold a casino night. But that meant getting a license from the state gaming commission, which turned out to be a red-tape hassle. The facility needed a new entertainment idea. Mather Hospital, Island Nursing's affiliate hospital, puts on a comedy event annually, and this gave Fridkin and his staff an idea. "Four weeks before the fund-raiser, we determined that we couldn't get the license for the casino night, so we were going to stage our own Comedy Night," he explains.

In short time, Island Nursing booked Comedians 4 Hire, a group of professional comedians Mather Hospital has hired for its comedy event. The comedians are talented entertainers who have appeared on Comedy Central, HBO, MTV, and in other notable venues. Despite their exposure and evident acclaim, the comedians were very affordable, Fridkin notes.

Preparing for the event in a short amount of time required hard work from the interdisciplinary fundraising committee, of which Fridkin is the chair. "You must have committee involvement because there's a lot of detail that goes into planning events such as this," he says. Each department also pitched in to prepare for Comedy Night. "You need to get the team involved with the whole planning process and the implementation," he adds.

Comedy Night started with a buffet dinner and dessert table for the 125 attendees. The event also included a 50/50 raffle and a Chinese auction of themed baskets, created by the staff of each of Island Nursing's 18 departments, and items donated by local businesses. The basket contents included Italian food, cooking utensils, and other related items; margaritas, glasses, and tortilla chips; movie gift certificates, popcorn, and candy; and an assortment of lottery tickets. The baskets were so elaborate that some departments had outside organizations assemble them. The facility also auctioned donated electronics, hotel stays, dinners, hair care, and other goods and services. Tickets to games of the Long Island Ducks, a minor league baseball team, and a chance to win tickets to the Arena Football League's New York Dragons games were also available.

When it came time for the laughs, the four comedians' only restriction was to keep the show clean. "We're a healthcare environment; we want to make sure we have a professional show," Fridkin says. The show lasted an hour and a half, and it was a hit. While only a handful of residents were able to see the comics in person, the show was broadcast on closed-circuit television for the folks who couldn't attend. And the event was taped to make sure everyone got a chance to see it--or see it again. The comedians' material included stories about real-life experiences involving family, friends, and dating. They also performed traditional and improvisational stand-up routines, along with some humorous songs.

The Comedy Night turned out to be such a great success because of the commitment of the staff, according to Fridkin, who credits them for the show's going off without a hitch. "I have a competent group of department heads, and there were really no problems," he notes. In fact, Fridkin only had two concerns going into the event. One was making sure parking arrangements were in place (the facility's director of engineering took care of that). The other wasn't so easy to ensure: "The weather was a major concern, but the weather cooperated--it was a nice fall evening."

Island Nursing's dedicated staff came through in planning Comedy Night--and dedicated they are. "One of my staff got married in the afternoon and then stopped by in the evening from her wedding reception to say hello and to see how things were going," Fridkin says.

Island Nursing's mission is "to provide the highest quality of care to all residents/patients in a manner that ensures respect, dignity, compassion, sensitivity, and concern." The facility's vision is "to achieve the highest level of resident/patient care services by focusing on resident/patient satisfaction and to serve as a center of excellence for our specialty programs, as well as a high-quality provider of care to the elderly and physically frail population in our community." Comedy Night helped Island Nursing to achieve both.

"Since we are relatively new," says Fridkin, "this is our first venture with a fund-raising program, so there really is no room for comparison. But it was a major success, a home run, because we're going to wind up getting about three pieces of equipment for the rehab department."

Nothing funny about that.

For further information, call David Fridkin, FACHE, Adminstrator/CEO of Island Nursing and Rehab Center, at [phone], ext. 103. To send your comments to the author and editors, e-mail [e-mail].

BY MICHAEL PELTIER, ASSISTANT EDITOR

A collaboration of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and Nursing Homes/Long Term Care Management Not-for-Profit Report, appearing in every issue of Nursing Homes magazine, addresses issues of particular interest to long-term care's not-for-profit sector. It provides nonprofit aging service providers with an additional information resource. Topics have been identified in collaboration with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Nursing Homes welcomes comments and suggestions for future coverage.