What is Extended Congregate Care
Extended Congregate Care (ECC) is a specialty license within an assisted living facility (ALF) that ensures greater care than a standard ALF license, allowing residents to age in place. Assisted living under an ECC license differs from skilled nursing, which is complete total care outside of assisted living.
Aging in place begins at the ALF level. Utilizing ECC within an ALF is most beneficial for patients who are already established residents. Once residents feel at home in their ALF and have built friendships and connections with other residents and staff, they can stay at the ALF without changing facilities. If one waits to move into an ALF when ECC care is required, the aging-in-place familiarity and comfort are not yet established and can be pretty disruptive.
A Brief History of ECC
In 1991, the Florida Legislature created the specialty Extended Congregate Care (ECC) license, which “allows assisted living facilities to provide residents with additional supportive and nursing services that they would otherwise need to receive in a nursing home.”
Components of ECC
An ECC license addresses two critical components: nursing and care. Under a standard nursing license, nurses can typically provide a certain level of care within assisted living, usually limited to basic care. Nurses can deliver additional medical support for extended periods with an ECC license. Residents can age in place and not have to move from their assisted living apartment, making the planning and healing process more straightforward and advantageous.
The care component of an ECC license allows professionals to provide total health. ALFs that hold an ECC license offer more extensive assistance and additional nursing services if required by the resident’s care plan:
- Nursing assessments conducted more frequently than monthly
- Measurement and recording of basic vital functions and weight
- Dietary and nutrition management, including provision of special diets
- Observing the resident’s food and fluid intake and output
- Assistance with self-administered medications
- Administration of medications and treatments under a healthcare provider’s order
Benefits of ECC
Residents whose ALF holds an ECC license may not be disqualified from placement which, under only a standard or Limited Nursing Services license, typically would. For example, if a resident is hospitalized and requires surgery, they may need medically mandated aftercare upon discharge. Without an ECC license, they would be required to stay at a nursing home until they are ready to return to their ALF residence.
Moving around as a senior, especially after surgery, can be traumatic to a resident who now finds themselves in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar staff. When their current ALF is equipped and qualified to care for medical issues in a residential assisted living setting, it provides peace of mind for all.
ECC at Weinberg Village
When there is a change of care for a resident at Weinberg Village Assisted Living in Tampa, their ECC license ensures extended supportive services despite mental or physical limitations.
Our staff and residents become family to one another, and when that family suddenly changes, it becomes a foreign setting with strangers. Being surrounded by their Weinberg Village family creates a better healing environment for our residents, especially after being hospitalized or having a surgical procedure.
Learn more about extended congregate services at Weinberg Village and how they can positively impact your loved one, if necessary.
