A leader of the Rochester Area Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (RAHSA) describes the purpose of the not-for-profit homes and services that comprise RAHSA.

He defines our purpose as a call to mission.

All RAHSA members have a common mission: we seek, we serve, we listen for and respond to the call to provide assistance and support to our aging sisters and brothers.

There also is another aspect to the "special" role that our not-for-profit homes play: RAHSA's non-profit and public institutions are, almost exclusively, the larger homes that provide a more widespread array of residential and community services. This fact is true both in Greater Rochester and in New York State.

In Greater Rochester, one-third of the residential health care facilities (nursing homes) are not-for-profit or public, but they operate over two-thirds of the nursing care beds.

At the same time, RAHSA members also offer such specialized non-residential services as housing (independent, enriched, assisted), rehabilitation / transitional care, adult day care, community care management, home health care, and home monitoring systems,

The not-for-profit difference is shown not only in the Greater Rochester community but also throughout the nation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services affirms in its latest statistics that not-for-profit nursing homes

1. Invest more resources in resident care.
2. Provide more hours of care per resident / patient day.
3. Provide more than twice the registered nurse (RN) hours per resident per day than at other facilities.
4. Average significantly higher licensed practical nurse (LPN) and certified nurse aide (CNA) hours than at other facilities.
5. Average significantly fewer deficiencies during inspections by state survey bodies.

In Rochester and in the United States, not-for-profits are where innovation happens. Not-for-profit nursing homes are changing the face of long-term care. Providers are completely redesigning their approach to care.

The hospital-style facility of old, with its institutional environment and rigid procedures, is being replaced with an approach to care in which residents and staff alike strive for a homelike family atmosphere. Residents are not just free to do so, but they are encouraged to make their own choices about their day.

The RAHSA homes are in that phalanx of pioneers who are leading the way in setting a new national standard. We are creating a new way of life, and we are being watched from throughout the nation as we come forth with true changes in the culture of caring.

The New York Times notes that not-for-profit providers are shaping daily life "around the needs and preferences of the residents, rather than the institutions." It is not surprising, the Times continues in an editorial, that "in an industry increasingly dominated by corporate chain ownership, the changes are occurring in non-profit homes."

All members of RAHSA are not-for-profit providers of direct services to the elderly in the Rochester, New York area. These include but are not limited to residential health care, adult care and adult housing facilities.

Currently RAHSA has 15 members:

Episcopal Seniorlife Communities
Fairport Baptist Homes Caring Ministries
Family Service of Rochester
The Friendly Home
The Highlands of Pittsford
Hill Haven
Jewish Home of Rochester
Lakeside Beikirch Care Center
Monroe Community Hospital
Rochester Presbyterian Home
St. Ann's Community
St. John's Home
Seniorsfirst (Kirkhaven & Valley Manor)
The Wesley Community
Unity

If interested in becoming a member of RAHSA, an organization should contact RAHSA's offices at 585-273-8220.