Sea Crest Health Care Center is proud of its innovative new dietary program under the expert guidance of Howard Rosenberg, the facility's Executive Director of Food Service. Breaking new ground in quality nursing care, the "Independent Tray Service" program helps restore the dignity of residents who require assistance at mealtime, diminishing their dependence and reestablishing a personal comfort level.

Rosenberg has implemented a user-friendly system whereas foods and thickened liquids are pre-portioned before mealtime in user-friendly cups and easy-to-open containers. Remarkably, this eliminates the considerable time often wasted at mealtime, when frustrated residents were forced to wait until an aide was available to open their cereal box, drink carton, condiment packet or or plastic bread wrapper. While they waited, it was not uncommon for an annoyed senior to be seen stabbing his foil juice cup with his fork – resulting in sharp jagged edges, or for a usually calm resident to throw her tray on the floor in exasperation. Now, instead of the traditional milk carton – 8 ounces of milk is served in a 12 ounce cup (to prevent spillage) with a straw slot, condiments come in soufflé cups, and bread is packaged in plastic bags with foldover seals. Popping the plastic lid off a cup is much more sanitary than having an aide place her finger on the container spout to peel back the butterfly.

The pre-mixing of thickened liquids (color-coded by consistency) in the kitchen is of tremendous benefit to those on a thickened liquid diet, sparing them from the embarrassment of being noticeably different than everyone else. In the past, those residents were required to wait to have their fluids mixed with a thickening powder at their table, and many times were dissatisfied with how their beverages were mixed. Now the consistencies are always consistent and to everyone's liking.

Residents now find mealtime to be a much more pleasurable experience, as they can enjoy the meal at their own pace without relying on others for assistance. And staff members don't have to stretch themselves thin, focusing instead on those residents who have serious impairments and require total assistance. With this new common sense system in place, there has been a noteworthy chain of positive results. Fluid intake has increased, the demand for side salads has surged, and there's better infection control and improved overall nutrition as residents have easier access to the foods they like.

Sea Crest is only the second long-term care facility to implement this efficient system that promotes self-sufficiency and enables residents to retain their self-respect. And they are doing the job right. When a nurse's aide was recently serving a tray to an elderly resident, she started to to remove the lid from the cornflakes. The resident put up her hand to stop her and said, " Honey, I can do it myself when I'm ready; I'm not a baby!".

Introducing our newest piece of equipment

Watch a video of our Vital-Go Bed, which stands up patients who have difficulty standing on their own.

Love Long and Live Long at Sea Crest

Norma Reyes and Delfin Sanchez toasting their marriage.

Coney Island, Brooklyn . . . On June 8, 2009 Delfin Sanchez, a resident at Sea Crest Health Care Center, married Norma Reyes at City Hall. Theirs is a romance that developed at Sea Crest more than three years ago when Norma was a patient for short-term rehabilitation following surgery. As Norma tells the story – it all began when her roommate on the second floor at the time asked Norma to give Delfin a piece of her birthday cake. This she did and a friendship was formed between them. Eventually Ms. Reyes was transferred to the sixth floor, the same floor Mr. Sanchez lived. She says that he began visiting her on a regular basis and their romance blossomed. When she eventually returned home to her apartment on West 33rd Street in Coney Island in June 2006, she continued to visit him on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day!

In the beginning of 2007 they decided that they wanted to live together. Ms. Reyes began looking into what it would entail to have Mr. Sanchez move into her apartment. Marriage was not always in the plans, but thanks to the bureaucracy of the New York City Housing Authority Mr. Sanchez was unable to move in with Ms. Reyes unless they were related. They then decided to marry but even that was not so simple; every step was fraught with difficulty. After a number of trips to City Hall and the renewal of Mr. Sanchez’s Dominican passport, the two made plans to be married in City Hall the morning of June 8, 2009.

Michael Schrieber, Sea Crest Executive Director, and Catherine Rose, Sea Crest Adminstrator, showering the new couple with their best wishes.

Following the City Hall ceremony, a wedding reception for all their friends was held at Sea Crest Health Care Center’s Second Floor Lounge. The staff at Sea Crest did all they could to make this special day a memorable one for the happy couple. The Recreation staff assisted in decorating the room for Norma and Delfin, and the Dietary staff heated up and served the food that was lovingly prepared by the bride earlier. A luscious wedding cake creation was made by Vincenza Maligieri, one of the facility’s ward clerks.