CALICO ROCK — Starting in 1967, four generations of the Wiseman and Hudson families have owned and operated White River Health Care in Calico Rock. It is one of the few family-owned nursing homes still operating in the state.
In recent years, new federal regulations have mandated expensive upgrades to nursing homes.
“So many things had to be done, including a sprinkler system,” co-owner Dean Hudson said. “We decided it would be better to build new than to try and update the current nursing home. We were also missing out on potential residents who were looking for a more-modern facility.”
Over a year ago, the Hudsons began planning a new facility to be built on Arkansas 56 in Calico Rock.
They broke ground on Dec. 2, 2013. Features will include a central nursing station, a better communication and call system, and a rehab wing that will include outpatient care.
“Outdoors, we will have a porch and patio and a walking area with a gazebo,” Dean Hudson said, “all fenced of course, but with chain link so it won’t interfere with the view. We see a lot of deer at the back of the property.”
The current facility has 35 residents. The new facility will be licensed for 71 beds. Moving the residents from one facility to the other is tentatively set for Monday.
“Today, our son Dean Jr. and his wife, Joyce, along with their son Lucas, are helping to run White River Health Care,” co-owner Peggy Hudson said. “Our daughter Joanie’s husband, Steve Vinson, also helps with the computer work. In 1965, my grandfather [Stephen McNeill] was living in a nursing home. We would visit him from time to time.”
Peggy’s parents, Daniel “Tip” Wiseman and Retha McNeill Wiseman, “started talking to us about opening our own nursing home. We all felt we could give better care than what we were seeing,” Peggy said.
Peggy married Dean in 1952. He became superintendent of schools in Mountain Home in 1966.
“When we were thinking about the possibility, we contacted attorney Kay Matthews,” Dean said. “He talked to people who owned nursing homes, and he helped us apply for a Small Business Administration loan.”
The first loan was approved for $98,000 to build a 35-bed facility. The Wisemans provided the land — their old farm site up on Calico Rock bluff.
The Hudsons and Wisemans became co-owners.
“When they died, the nursing home blended into the next generation,” Dean said. “When we’re gone, it goes to our son and daughter.”
One of the nursing home’s first residents was Retha Wiseman’s father. Later, Peggy’s grandmother and her mother and Dean’s mother were residents.
While the first nursing home was being built, Peggy took classes to become a licensed practical nurse and a nursing home administrator. White River Health Care opened in June 1967. That September, the business hired registered nurse Norma Killian as director of nursing.
“We had good employees,” Killian said. “We always tried our best to make our residents comfortable and keep them as active as they could be. We were the only nursing home in the area. Our residents came from Stone, Baxter, Fulton, Sharp and Independence counties, as well as Izard.”
“My mother walked the halls and cracked the whip,” Peggy said. “Back then, you didn’t have to be certified to work in a nursing home. She worked in housekeeping; Dad oversaw building maintenance.”
Several years later, White River Health Care received a $100,000 Small Business Administration loan to add a wing, expanding the nursing home to 91 beds.
“When I retired as superintendent of schools in 1975,” Dean said, “Peggy told me, ‘You are now the administrator.’”
“I wanted back on the floor,” Peggy said. “The reason I got my nurse’s license was when I walked down the hall, I wanted to know what I was looking at and what it meant. After Dean took over as administrator, I became a floater anywhere I was needed.”
Killian talked about the changes in nursing care in the past 47 years.
“It used to be we just went by what was right. Years ago, we had a record for each patient that was three or four pages long. Now, with all the federal regulations, it’s more like a book. The paperwork changed, but the care didn’t.”
Cindy Wildhagen came to work at White River Health Care in 2005 as social services director.
“My job was to help residents with insurance forms, Medicare applications, admissions and with their discharge,” she said. “We want everybody, if they are able, to go home and live independently. We get them set up for home health care. About 80 percent of our Medicare residents do go home. A few find they can’t handle it and come back, but at least they tried.”
Wildhagen is the current administrator.
“We have to move with the times. In the old facility, not every room has a bathroom. Originally, there were wards with up to five beds. Today, the push in long-term care is to get away from the institutional look and change to more of a homelike environment. That will be reflected in our new facility.”
Moving the current residents to the new facility must be accomplished in one day.
“But the good thing is we will only be taking the residents and their personal belongings,” Dean said. “All the furniture and furnishings are brand new and will already be in place. Families will help move their loved ones. Ozark EMS ambulance service has volunteered to move those that need help.”
Summing up her feelings, Wildhagen said, “I love working at White River Health Care. When you do something, I don’t care what it is, for an older person — get her a sweater, say hello, take her down the hall — sometimes she takes hold of your hand and says, ‘You’re such an angel.’ No, I am not an angel. But to them, you are because you took the time to care. If I can sit at the side of a man who is dying, it’s an honor I got to do that. The elderly are special people. We’re not angels, but when I go home, I think maybe I lightened someone’s life today.”
For more information about White River Health Care, visit www.whiteriverhealthcare.com or call (870) 297-3719.