The Retreat—Home for Loved Ones

The Retreat Nursing Home is a 50 bed capacity certified Medicare and Medicaid Services long term care nursing home in downtown Monticello. Along with Jasper Memorial Hospital (JMH) and the Primary Care Center, The Retreat falls under Jasper Health Services, Incorporated.

“A wonderful place for families to take their loved ones for their final days,” Laura Hudgins, Nursing Administrator for The Retreat said, sharing that her grandparents lived out their last days at The Retreat. Hudgins, a licensed Nursing Home Administrator, has been the Administrator since January 2024. She has been employed in various capacities at The Retreat for the past 28 years.

The Retreat recently received a five star rating, the top rating a nursing home can receive and not one that comes easily. A nursing home search on medicare.gov reveals that The Retreat is only one of five 5- star facilities out of 78 nursing homes located within a 50 mile radius of Monticello. Twenty-nine of those 78 nursing homes in that same 50 mile radius have a 1-star rating, a rating defined as much below average. The rating process is a complex one that involves being evaluated and graded in three primary categories: Health Inspections, Quality Measures and Staffing.

The Health Inspections portion includes inspections and evaluations in all departments including Dietary, Environmental Services, Nursing Therapy, Delivery of Care and State Fire Marshall inspections.

The Quality Measure portions involves measuring areas that include things like the percentages of patient falls and pressure sores, the number of resident hospitalizations and the percentage of residents with Emergency Room (ER) visits.

Staffing criteria includes examining the total number of hours staffed by Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Physical Therapists (PTs), Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Speech Therapists. Minimum staffing thresholds have to be met in each category.

“It takes a team of employees across all departments and disciplines to help make and keep The Retreat a five star facility,” Hudgins shared.

She admitted that CNA team members probably have the hardest job. “They definitely have the most physically demanding job and the least amount of compensation. Those who do it, love it,” Hudgins stated. It is one of the hardest positions to fill and keep staffed. “We try to grow our own,” she said, explaining that The Retreat has worked with Jasper County High School (JCHS) to provide internships for high school students and is currently working with Southern Crescent Technical College to establish local CNA classes.

Team member Abbe Beatty, one of the Retreat’s CNAs, has worked at The Retreat for about three years. She found her way to working as a CNA while a student at JCHS through the Career Technical Education (CTE) program. She became interested in working in the medical field as a way to be able to help take care of her grandparents.

Beatty, the first person in her family to go to college, is also working towards her RN degree at Georgia Military College and she is a member of the National Guard with possible plans to go to active duty. “I love my job. It keeps me going. CNAs spend more time than any staff with the residents,” she said, describing CNA work as mentally, physically and emotionally challenging.

Lawandra Bennett is the Housekeeping Supervisor. She works in both The Retreat and JMH and is described by Hudgins as her right hand person. A native of Jasper County, Bennett likes to help out when needed no matter what the job is. She began her tenure as a volunteer through an unemployment work program after being laid off from her manufacturing job, eventually becoming full-time at The Retreat.

“Working here we see each other more than we see our families, we’re close knit. We’re all here for each other. I really enjoy the residents and patients and the energy of my co-workers. I like working here, I really do,” Bennett said.

Debbie Grier, RN, with her Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) also from Jasper County, taught nursing for many years at Georgia College & State University. Taking her job as the Care Plan Coordinator at The Retreat in 2021, she described the work as a collaborative effort with everyone having the same goal of providing quality care for the residents.

“It’s a good way to do nursing in my community,” she shared, “I like being close to home and helping people that I’ve known for my whole life. The families here know the people who are taking care of them. We grew up with each others parents, each other’s children. And, if we live long enough, we’re all going to need help.”

Melissa Francis, RN, MSN has been The Retreat’s Director of Nursing for two years and has worked for 20 years as an RN with a specialty in Geriatrics. “It’s a calling,” she says of her work, “This job makes you feel like you have a purpose.” Francis coordinates the medical services for the residents and is in charge of all RN, LPN and CNA staffing, including hiring. She tries to bring in staff who have compassion and who love what they do. Originally from Milledgeville, she likes working close to home. “The Retreat is the best,” she said, “It takes a team and we have an awesome team.”

Retreat resident Carla Slocumb couldn’t be happier living the rest of her life at The Retreat. Born at JMH and a former CNA at The Retreat for 28 years, she knows first hand of the quality care provided daily. Her grandmother and mother were also Retreat residents. “I love living here. I love this place. This is my home. The nurses and CNAs are good to me. It is the best nursing home in Georgia,” Slocumb declared, sharing “The food is good, the medical care is good, games are fun and we get to go outside. We are family.”

“We all have a passion for the industry, that’s what keeps us here,” Hudgins said, also sharing that everyone is family and that many of the residents and the employees grew up with each other. As CNA Beatty says, “At the end of the day, The Retreat is a really good facility.”

The long waiting list of names of people who want to call The Retreat home, even names of those who don’t need to live in a nursing home just yet, might be the perfect indication that The Retreat is a really good place to call home for anyone’s last days.