Frances Maroufkhani, nursing supervisor at Orangegrove Rehabilitation Hospital in Garden Grove, Calif., stepped up to support a resident who was discharging to an assisted living facility. When she learned he had no friends or family to help him make the move, she took the task on herself. She drove him to his new home and stayed for hours, organizing his clothes and other things in his closet, changing the bed linens to fresher ones and joining him for dinner to make sure he was able to make new friends.

Lindsey Johnson, a certified nursing assistant at Life Care Center of Aurora, Colo., was at work when she discovered that the son of one of the residents had spent the night in his mother’s room. He was homeless and had slept on the floor. Johnson took it upon herself to pull out a couch for the son to sleep on and moved it into the resident’s room. While the resident was at an appointment, the son was able to shower and shave in his mother’s private bathroom. Johnson went down to the laundry department and picked out some clothes from the donated clothing rack and gave them to the son, offered to wash the clothes he was wearing and made sure he had lunch that day. He only stayed one additional night before his mother was discharged, but Johnson went above and beyond to help this family member and ease his mother’s mind.

Diane Manetti, a registered nurse at Life Care Center of Elkhorn, Neb., helped a dying resident communicate with his loved ones. One of the family members shared in a letter, “Because of her, he was able to tell me what he’d been trying to tell me for about 10 minutes. It was ‘I love you with all my heart.’ Because of her, I had that last moment in time!”

“Orangegrove has been expanding its reach in the area of education for our fellow Korean seniors for a few years now,” said Gilbert Chan, director of business development at the facility. “We are proud to be recognized as an active partner with the OCKAHIEC.”

During the program, Dr. Hong Kim spoke on the importance of understanding the warning signs and the dangers of allowing the disease to go untreated. Early detection, he said, is key. The program concluded with Orangegrove’s executive director, Nelia Yonzon, sharing the facility’s focus on addressing the needs of the Korean community in skilled rehabilitation and nursing care.

The facility received a plaque with recognition from Sen. Lou Correa.

Sixty percent of the patients are Korean. [The facility] even has a Korean cook. When it’s mealtime, seaweed soup, fish soup, spinach soup and various other [dishes] are served. This type of menu is currently popular even among the different races within the hospital.

The non-Korean workers try very hard to learn Korean. The workers know how to speak basic Korean such as, “Where does it hurt?” “Are you hungry?” and multiple other simple Korean phrases.

This is the story of Orangegrove Rehabilitation Hospital, a mainstream [nursing and rehab facility] in Garden Grove, [Calif.].

The [facility] has an estimate of 100 beds, and about 10 years ago, there were hardly any Korean patients. The number of Korean patients was less than 10. There was only one Korean nurse. However, with respect to the executive director, Nelia Yonzon, the hospital gradually began to create a friendly environment [for Koreans], and there are now more than 60 Korean patients.

The number of Korean nurses has also increased to four (or five, if certified nursing assistants are included). In addition, the facility has a separate Korean program coordinator who prepares a Korean worship service, bingo and various other recreational activities. More recently, Yonzon has mentioned the need for more Korean nurses due to the constant increase in the number of Korean patients.

Anna Lee, a nurse who has been employed at the hospital since 2000, said, “Korean menus and bulletins are in various locations of the hospital.” She explained, “Staff members desire to learn Korean, and so basic Korean phrases such as, ‘Hello, my name is…’ are being taught.”

She continued by mentioning that “even among the different ethnic groups in the hospital, there are those who have fallen for the taste of Korean foods. The entire hospital is a Korean-friendly environment.”

This [facility] that transformed into a “Korean-friendly” hospital is now reaching its hand out and getting deeper in its partnership with the Korean community. Just last month, it even participated in the Orange County Korean Festival and opened a free health information seminar to keep an eye out for the health of Koreans.