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The nonprofit Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association serves folks in 28 communities in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties.
Early last year, it moved into a brand-new facility -- the Center for Exceptional Care -- at 27 Governor St. And last month, it welcomed an outpatient rehabilitation center, meaning that the new building is now fully occupied, according to the RVNA’s executive director, Theresa Santoro.
Santoro told the Daily Voice in April that the new facility is giving the agency an extra 10,000 square feet for its programs.
"It truly is the culmination of everything we've worked so hard for in delivering on and expanding upon our mission which is to provide home and health care services ... across western Connecticut," she told the Daily Voice.
"We knew that we not only needed a bigger and better space but also to provide more to the community," she said. "This building is a health and wellness center."
The new rehab center will offer three kinds of physical therapy -- orthopedic, neurological and joint replacement -- and occupational therapy, as well as help for folks with swallowing, speech and balance problems, according to a report by The Ridgefield Press.
On the New Age side, alternate therapies such as massage will also be offered, The Ridgefield Press reported.
The RVNA’s previous location was too small to fit in the kind of equipment the new rehab facility has, such as a treadmill, parallel bars, a recumbent stepper and an upper body bike. The latter two are built to accommodate people who use wheelchairs, The Ridgefield Press story said.
According to a report by Westfaironline.com, the RVNA really needed the extra space.
It currently about 1,200 in-home patients, a number that had doubled over the past five years
In 2015, it had 120 employees; in 2012 its staff only had 55 members, Westfaironline.com reported.
Now, the association has about 200 full- and part-time nurses, therapists and home health aides.
Santoro, who has been with the organization since 2007, told Westfieldonline.com back then that she was seeing something she had never really seen before: waiting lists for simple things such as flue shots and health education programs.
The need for a new facility, Westfaironline.com reported, was partly attributed to the press of health care reforms and the number of Baby Boomers reaching senior status.
According to The Ridgefield Patch, the association’s new home was more than two years in the making.
It broke ground in late 2014 on the $9.5 million, 22,000-square-foot facility. The official ribbon-cutting took place this past April.
Most of the money was raised through private donations and a foundation. The rest came from the RVNA’s public phase, The Campaign for Tomorrow.
For more information about the RVNA, click here.
To read The Ridgefield Press story, click here.
To read The Ridgefield Patch story, click here.
To read the Westfaironline.com story, click here.
To read the Daily Voice story, slick here.
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