Where to get long-term care.Well, it's happened again--for the sixth time in the last seven OPTIMA Award contests, our winner hails from the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. metropolitan area. Indeed, the Kings Harbor Multicare Center of the Bronx, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , is a repeat winner. Readers with a relatively long memory might recall their winning entry in the 2000 competition: "Transportation Links to Improved Quality of Life." This year Kings Harbor gained the OPTIMA statuette with "An All-Out Attack on Falls" (p. 26). They've represented the Bronx well, needless to say, but (without naming names) New York can be proud of another Bronx-based facility and three from Long Island, as well, all since 1998. It's worth noting that OPTIMA is a "blinded" competition--that is, our judges (very few of whom have hailed from the New York area) go through all the entries without knowing where or who they're from. And entries come from all over the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . So, what gives here? Is New York the place to be when you or a loved one needs long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. ? Why would that be? Here is my definitive answer: I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. . But I can offer a few playful theories: 1. One winning New York-based administrator of whom I did ask this question a couple of years ago suggested that the New York market is especially competitive. Nursing homes are clustered, just as everything else in New York is clustered, and these close-proximity facilities go after their markets tooth and nail. 2. New Yorkers are tough customers. There's the famous anecdote of a visiting baseball player at Yankee Stadium • • [ being bombarded with dry-cell batteries. (The story doesn't specify whether these were AAAs, AAs, Cs, Ds, 9-volts or--heaven forbid--those blocky 6-volts, but I suppose they all can do damage.) I doubt whether New York nursing home administrators routinely have batteries thrown at their heads (correct me if I'm wrong), but I can well imagine unhappy families there offering various versions of the Bronx cheer. 3. New York's regulatory enforcement is tougher. I suspect New York's facilities would agree with that, but I'm certain they'd get arguments from many areas of the country. I do recall a report on state surveys a couple of years ago indicating that neighboring Connecticut facilities were among the most penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. in the nation. Maybe there's a spillover spill·o·ver n. 1. The act or an instance of spilling over. 2. An amount or quantity spilled over. 3. A side effect arising from or as if from an unpredicted source: effect. 4. New Yorkers are as good as they think they are. I remember once having occasion to move a magazine from New York to Cleveland and being asked by my New York-based editorial predecessor, a year later, how I liked Cleveland. When I replied, "I like it a lot," she registered shock and disbelief. Whatever the reasons for New York City's dominance, I urge upstate New York Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area. It has a population of 7,121,911 out of New York State's total 18,976,457. Were it an independent state, it would be ranked 13th by population. and the other 49 states not to give up. The OPTIMA Award rewards the best in resident care, and I know the providers of same are out there. In fact, we will be publishing several excellent "runners-up," none of which are New York-based, throughout the year. So, look for our annual OPTIMA announcement in the February through April issues, and show New York what-for in 2005. BY RICHARD L. PECK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF |
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