A sneak peak at the Zimmerli Pavilion
A commemorative plaque in a common area dedicates the Zimmerli Pavilion at St. Andrews Village to the Rev. Dr. Mary Jo Zimmerli, “our friend, our leader, our dear heart.” The stained glass window above the plaque came from Zimmerli’s former home and was donated by her children. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Private patient room at Zimmerli Pavilion. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Visitor sitting area. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Common dining area. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Patient sitting area with Zimmerli plaque and stained glass. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
St. Andrews Executive Director Loriman Looke stands near nurse’s station at the Zimmerli Pavilion. Courtesy of Scott Shott
A commemorative plaque in a common area dedicates the Zimmerli Pavilion at St. Andrews Village to the Rev. Dr. Mary Jo Zimmerli, “our friend, our leader, our dear heart.” The stained glass window above the plaque came from Zimmerli’s former home and was donated by her children. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Private patient room at Zimmerli Pavilion. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Visitor sitting area. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Common dining area. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
Patient sitting area with Zimmerli plaque and stained glass. SUE MELLO/Boothbay Register
St. Andrews Executive Director Loriman Looke stands near nurse’s station at the Zimmerli Pavilion. Courtesy of Scott Shott
Last week, workers were putting the finishing touches on the new Zimmerli Pavilion at St. Andrews Village in anticipation of its first patients. Rev. Dr. Mary Jo Zimmerli, for whom the new center is “lovingly named,” would have been pleased.
“This was a favorite project of Mary Jo’s. She worked so hard to see this become a reality,” former Lincoln County Healthcare Board President Pete Mundy said. “Mary Jo was a very strong force on the board, emphasizing the local need for a facility that could be both short-term rehab and long-term nursing care. She spent countless hours with the residents of the Gregory Wing.“
Zimmerli, a former St. Andrews Hospital and Lincoln County Healthcare trustee, nurse practitioner and minister, died in 2014. In her time in Boothbay Harbor, she had a tremendous impact on those whose lives she graced.
“No matter what the situation or discussion, Mary Jo always brought the conversation back to the human element,” LincolnHealth VP Scott Shott said during a tour of the new facility.
With a seaside-themed decor, spacious private rooms, and elegantly furnished dining and sitting areas, the new Zimmerli Pavilion will provide top-notch care in a beautiful setting on the 60-acre Boothbay Harbor campus.
A stained glass window from Zimmerli’s home adorns a wall in a common area. Its motif, a Monarch butterfly, evokes the resurrection theme, as well as a poem Zimmerli wrote. In “From a Caterpillar to a Butterfly,” Zimmerli encourages the reader to have faith, embrace change and believe in the possibility of more than meets the eye. And in some ways, this new Zimmerli Pavilion feels like the beautiful butterfly that could not be seen a few years back when the community was torn apart over the changes at St. Andrews Hospital.
St. Andrews Village Executive Director Loriman Looke said the Zimmerli Pavilion’s patient beds, like those at the Gregory Wing, are licensed for both long or short-term care, but the emphasis at the Zimmerli Pavilion will be short-term care.
“The new center will focus on skilled rehabilitation. If a person has had a hip replacement or a knee replacement or has been in the hospital with pneumonia and needs to rebuild their strength, they can come here to do that. Here they will be working with physical therapists, occupational therapists or speech therapists. That’s the key focus,” Looke said.
Upon entering, one first encounters a sitting area/bistro for visitors. Down the hall, a communal kitchen and dining area is separated from a sitting area by a dual-sided fireplace. Across the hall are a nurses’ station and a physical/occupational therapy room. Just beyond, three corridors lead to 12 private patient rooms, each with private bathroom and outside facing windows. Throughout, there is bright, yet warm LED and natural lighting, vibrant colors, and homey details and accents. There are also architectural features designed specifically to help convalescing patients, such as ceiling lifts, no-wall showers, therapeutic spa, and special flooring.
Although there are common sitting and dining areas, patients may also choose to eat and relax privately.
“We recognized patients will be tired from therapy so there is an option for meals in a public setting or in the privacy of your own room,” Looke said.
Each referral to St. Andrews will be carefully reviewed, Looke said.
“When referrals come in, we will look at what are the needs, can we meet those needs and what beds are available. We have to look at every patient to see truly what they need,” Looke said. Looke said dual licensing at St. Andrews will allow greater flexibility to meet both short term and long-term patient needs.
Shott said that the Zimmerli Pavilion will boost the local ability to meet skilled care needs, and will also free up hospital beds for more seriously ill patients. “With swing/skilled beds here, that opens up all 25 beds at Miles for acute patients,” he said.
Looke said the Fire Marshal is expected to inspect the facility this week and then they will apply to the town of Boothbay Harbor for a certificate of occupancy. With that in hand, the Zimmerli Pavilion will be ready to welcome its first patients.
An opening celebration is planned for May, Shott said.
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