Orange, NJ March 17th, 2016 – There are plenty of reasons to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day: parades, corned beef, Guinness, green everything. For Kathleen Gahles, an Alaris Health at St. Mary’s resident, 65-years-young and extremely proud of her Irish roots, this year’s holiday was even more special. It motivated her to set a goal of attending her sister’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Scotch Plains last Saturday.
With help from her dedicated nurses, Ms. Gahles has made exceptional progress at Alaris Health at St. Mary’s since being admitted to the ventilator care unit in February of 2015. By November, she had progressed and moved to the rehabilitation care unit and has been off the ventilator and using an oxygen mask. With regular physical therapy, she has been able to sit up in her chair for longer and longer stints at a time, but nothing compared to her St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Accompanied by Director of Nursing Marsha Cill, with whom Ms. Gahles has become very close, she went to her sister’s St. Patrick’s Day party. Not only did she enjoy multiple helpings of cabbage, corned beef and potatoes, she sat up in her chair for more than five and a half hours! Ms. Gahles told Marsha the following day, “I can’t stop smiling from my experience yesterday,” and later, “Lately I’ve been so happy.”
Ms. Gahles continues to make progress and has set a new goal for herself: to return home to live with her daughter within four months. With her tenacity and the excellent nursing care she receives at Alaris Health at St. Mary’s, that goal is well within Ms. Gahles’s reach.
About Alaris Health
Alaris statewide network of independently owned and operated Member Health Centers offers a wide variety of services across a continuum of care, ranging from short-term post-hospital rehabilitation and long-term care specialized care.
Each Member Health Center is licensed to use the Alaris Health name and receive non-health related services. All health care related services are provided solely by each independently owned and operated Member Health Center.
For more information, please visit www.alarishealth.com or call (855)7-ALARIS for more information.
