Care Home To Open In Kaneohe
Hideo and caregiver Nicole Tam, a Kaneohe resident, enjoy some recreational time together at Hale Ku'ike. Photo by Bud Muth.
Hale Ku’ike, a residential memory care facility in Nuuanu, is expected to accept residents in Kaneohe at Hale Ku’ike Bayside, its second location, in July.
The new facility, which can serve 28 residents, is located at 45-212 Kaneohe Bay Drive and will employ about 40 individuals. It’s nearly double the size of the town-side building.
“The need level across the board for Oahu is high for individuals who have dementia and are memory-impaired,” explained spokesman Scott Gardiner, “so it was necessary to expand to service more individuals.”
President David Fitzgerald, a Kaneohe resident, agreed and pointed out that of the many types of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease affects more than half of those cases.
Fitzgerald, who worked at Pohai Nani for about 10 years, went to Scandinavia to study innovative facilities that deal with memory loss.
“I took what I learned there and what I learned at Pohai Nani and based the design on that,” he said. And it’s all about the details. “It’s about finding colors that are calming but pleasing that also don’t get distorted as your eyes age. We look at things like lighting and the quality of lighting.”
Hale Ku’ike and Hale Ku’ike Bayside use natural lighting, and when artificial lighting is used, warmer colors are selected.
Since 2004, Hale Kuike has served the community, offering a garden and enclosed walking path for safe exercise.
“The key factor is providing a safe place for people to wander, because some people with Alzheimer’s pace and wander,” Fitzgerald explained. “It’s a problem if you try to prevent them from wandering, because they have that need, and they need to burn energy.”
The walking path at the new care home will go around and through the building, and on the second floor a path will wrap around the building to ensure that the residents upstairs have access to a safe path.
It also will be broken up into two floors of 14 residents each, with both levels having their own dining room, living room and activity spaces.
Having a smaller number of residents on each floor gives off a more home-like feel, Fitzgerald explained. On each floor, residents will have a commercial kitchen with professional chefs and a country kitchen for those who feel the need to do household tasks.
For more information, visit halekuike.com or call 595-6770.
