La Carlota Adventist Hospital in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, opened a new geriatric center during a special ceremony held Oct. 16, 2020. The new center will can house nine residents who can benefit from health benefits to restore their health through medical attention, physical and hydro therapy, as well as many other services and activities. [Photo: Montemorelos University]
October 30, 2020 | Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico | Laura Marrero / IAD News Staff

La Carlota Adventist Hospital recently inaugurated a new geriatric center in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The new center will serve elderly persons looking to restore their health away from home.  Hospital and university leaders inaugurated the center during a special ceremony held on Oct. 15, 2020. It becomes the second center to care for older adults near the hospital adjacent to the university campus.

What started as a dream in the hearts of the nursing staff back in 2006 turned into reality in 2019 when construction of the new center began, said Nancy Castillo, development coordinator and customer service coordinator at La Carlota Hospital.

President of Montemorelos University and General Manage of La Carlota Hospital Ismael Castillo speaks during the inaguration of the new geriatric center on campus. [Photo: Montemorelos University]
“We opened thinking in part of the vulnerable population that needs care, love and our attention,” said Castillo.   The new center can house nine persons as well as any elderly person who wishes to benefit from daily services, lectures, and activities at the during the day.

Leaders unveiled a new plaque on the new center, which is located next to the health care institution, as hospital and university administrators spoke on the importance and purpose of the geriatric center.

President of Montemorelos University and General Manager of La Carlota Hospital Ismael Castillo thanked everyone involved in making the new center possible including staff, builders and donors who made it possible for such a center to impact the community.

“Honor your father and your mother so that your days may be long,” quoted Castillo. “That is the first commandment that carries with it a promise and we will continue in that direction carrying for our fathers, our mothers as if they were our own. Thus, our institutions will have a lasting life to fulfill this great mission,” he said.

Nancy Castillo, development and customer service coordinator of the new center speaks on the dream of many and donors who contributed to make it a reality. [Photo: Montemorelos University]
The geriatric center features rooms with private bathrooms, a medical office, a multi-purpose room that houses a dining room, conference room, a playroom, an entertainment room for games, computers, a small kitchen, a terrace for hydrotherapy treatments, and a garden.

“Those who will wish to visit the center, will get to listen to nutritional talks, self-improvement presentations, take part in cultural and recreative activities, schedule a medical consultation with access to medications, benefit from physical therapy, hydrotherapy, with some of the services at additional cost,” said Nancy Castillo.

The center will be managed by the health professionals and nursing staff of the hospital, she said. In addition, the school of nursing will also coordinate services for the new geriatric center.

“We not only want to attend to persons who are sick but anyone who needs care that is not available in a hospital or they may need to live under the care of someone else,” Nancy Castillo said.

One of several rooms that will house elderly residents for health care services in the new center. [Photo: Montemorelos University]
The new center has a regular staff of 12 employees and is a more extensive facility as compared to a home for the elderly called “Casa Gil” (The Gil Home) which was converted into an assisted home care to facility to house seven residents early in 2019, after a retired couple donated to assist the frail and the elderly.

To learn more about the geriatric center at La Carlota Hospital, visit hospitallacarlota.com