Business March 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 13 Van Dyk Health Care’s Ridgewood facility was named one of the “best nursing homes 2013” by U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News has collected meaningful data and ratings about nearly every nurs- Van Dyk Ridgewood facility gets top rating ing facility in the United States, and built a searchable database designed to highlight the highest-rated homes likely to meet each user’s needs. The data behind Best Nursing Homes came from Nursing Home Compare, a website run by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS sets and enforces standards for nursing homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. The agency also collects information from states and individual homes and assigns each home a rating of one to five stars in each of three categories: stateconducted health inspections, nursing and physical therapy staffing, and quality of medical care. The ratings are combined to produce an overall rating. “U.S. News & World Report’s recent recognition of our Ridgewood facility is a culmination of our team’s dedicated and caring work,” said Robert Van Dyk, president and owner of Van Dyk Health Care, Inc. “For 60 years, we’ve instilled the importance of putting our patients’ and residents’ needs ahead of our own, and our team takes this mission to heart every day, from the most simple tasks they complete to the most complex. On behalf of them, and the gracious people who put their trust in us for their care, we’re proud to be recognized nationally for our mission.” “We’re very pleased to be among U.S. News & World Report’s distinguished list of ‘Best Nursing Homes’ for the third consecutive year,” said Mary Jo Kurtz, administrator/COO of the Van Dyk Ridgewood facility. “Our mission of ‘We Care’ is translated into everything we do for our patients and residents and it’s very gratifying to achieve recognition beyond our own four walls. We share this distinction with our care team, our patients, residents and their families.” Free county service (continued from page 3) of those services should be charged to the municipalities by contract on a per capita basis, based on an arm’s length negotiation, and not through county taxes which are assessed based on equalized assessed value.” Bivona and the council also say municipalities should be given the choice of whether to enter into such contracts, as it may not be cost effective, or may not be prudent for other reasons, for an individual municipality to obtain such services through the county. “The mayor and council of the Borough of Franklin Lakes strongly support cost savings through shared services, where feasible and practicable,” the resolution states, “and have been active in seeking and entering into shared services and joint purchasing opportunities with other municipalities, including, but not limited to, its successful shared services and joint purchasing arrangements with the WOLF Group (officials of Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff) and the Northwest Shared Services Group.” In a position paper Bivona provided to the council before a vote was taken on the resolution, he wrote, “The cost (of these services) would not be free to Franklin Lakes residents. They would pay up to 230 percent more than they currently pay for the same service.” Bivona explained the origin of the issue, pointing out that the county spent $12 million constructing a centralized dispatch center in Mahwah, but they did not have municipality buy-in before construction. Now, he said, that center is underused and the county wants to offer the service free of charge to the municipalities. Bivona claims if every municipality agreed to use the centralized county facility, that facility could not handle even a majority of them, and new facilities would have to be built, equipped with technology, and staffed. “Since each town already has these services and facilities the taxpayer is paying for redundancy,” Bivona said, “they pay local taxes for dispatch and they pay county taxes for the new facility. “In my opinion, shared services can only work when there is an arm’s length agreement among local municipalities and others where each pays its fair share of cost for the service rendered based on usage. These shared service agreements should be voluntary and contractual in nature allowing the municipality to seek the best deal, a free market exercise. Shared services structured where municipalities pay nothing and are urged or required to consolidate services at a higher taxing authority level eliminate local control, and redistribute the cost of that service from cost-based to assessed value-based, thus redistributing property taxes.” U.S. News built Best Nursing Homes 2013 using data published by CMS in January 2013. Homes in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., are included. In January 2013, 3,036 nursing homes earned an overall rating of five stars from the federal government, including Van Dyk Ridgewood. Their profiles on usnews. com display a badge in recognition of this status. U.S. News will periodically update its ratings and other data during 2013 as new data become available from CMS, but only those homes recognized in January will display a badge throughout the year. Van Dyk Health Care is a family of three facilities located in northern New Jersey: Van Dyk Ridgewood, Van Dyk Montclair, and Van Dyk Park Place. Founded in 1953, the organization has built an unsurpassed reputation for excellence in care, that began with Marvin Van Dyk, and continues today with his son, Robert Van Dyk and his dedicated staff – all of whom share a mission of delivering quality care services to others in need, whether it be short-stay services or longerterm assisted or chronic care. Today, Van Dyk Health Care has grown to offer the full continuum of care services, including post-acute, assisted living, skilled nursing and long-term chronic care, and a specialized Alzheimer’s Care unit. The organization is committed to working closely with its hospital and medical partners to ensure its short-stay patients return home quickly and safely. Learn more at vandykhealthcare.com or (201) 445-8200.