Construction of a 1,858 square foot addition to Derby Green, a long-term care facility in Derby, began on April 30 and will continue throughout the summer.
‘The addition will provide added safety for the residents who live on the second floor here,’Lisa Bohlman said. ‘It will allow all of our resident rooms to be on the first floor. It will also be safer for the residents and staff who go up and down the stairs throughout the day, evening and night.’
Lisa has been the administrator of the award winning facility since September 2004.
The long-term care facility is home to 23 men and women. Seven nurses and 13 nurses’aides provide them with around the clock, 365 days a year care.
Although the addition, which should be completed in late summer, won’t provide additional space for more residents, it will allow the residents who currently have their rooms on the second floor to relocate to the first floor. The vacated rooms will be used for much needed administrative purposes as well as a meeting/education room.
This is the first addition to the facility since 1986.Lisa is excited about the addition and the benefits it will bring to the residents and the staff.
The building which now houses Derby Green has an amazing history. According to the Derby history book, the building was built in 1875 by Ed and Charles Bates, New York industrialists who had roots in Vermont. The building was built as the ‘cottage’for a several hundred acre estate that would become known as the Highland Stock Farm. Race horses were bred and raised on the estate, some which garnished notoriety on the horse racing circuit. There was a trotting track where the horses were trained almost directly across the road from where Derby Green is today.
After the ‘cottage’was built it served as the summer home to members of the Bates family. In time it became the summer home for Dr. Robert Halsey and his wife Edith (Bates) Halsey of New York City.
The ‘cottage’was sold to Rufus and Dorilda Patenaude in 1956. The couple, who at the time worked the land as farmers, converted the ‘cottage’into a home for the aged. However, with increasing state regulations the couple decided to sell the business to their daughter, Rita Gobeil and her husband, Raymond. The Gobeils transformed it from a home for the aged into an 18 bed nursing home. Mr. and Mrs. Gobeil owned and operated the facility until 1984 at which time it was bought by North Country Health System.
The Patenaude’s, then the Gobeil’s, provided quality care in a homelike facility for their residents. That same care has continued under the ownership of North Country Health System. The following are some of the awards that have been bestowed upon Derby Green since it came under the umbrella of North Country Health System. Quality Award 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and Named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Nursing Homes 2010-2013.
Lisa is quick to credit her staff for making the awards become reality. ‘I believe I have an excellent staff,’she said. ‘It’s because of them that we have received these awards. It’s because they care about our residents. You can truly feel their love for them.’