Woods Services Announces Next Phase of Successful Program Realignment to Meet the Life-Long Needs of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Woods and Bucks County collaborating on long-range plans for the 300-acre Langhorne campus
LANGHORNE, Pa. (May 22, 2019) – Woods Services, among the area’s oldest and largest providers of specialized health care and education for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is ahead of schedule with the phased implementation of its successful, comprehensive program realignment.
Under a new leadership team, Woods has been developing and implementing transformative initiatives focused on how to continually improve outcomes for the children, adults and seniors they serve through a wide array of programs that provide life-long solutions. This includes downsizing its campus-based residential services in Langhorne and creating more community-integrated residential services.
To date, the realignment process has resulted in an overall reduction of more than 15% of the youth-residential services provided on Woods’ campus in Langhorne with more to come. Tine Hansen-Turton, president and CEO of Woods, noted that today 97% of the exceptional people served by Woods’ and its affiliates in PA and NJ live in community-based settings or with their families.
Hansen-Turton said Woods is actively collaborating with both its affiliates and regional government agencies to design a community-based treatment model for youth with severe behavioral disorders that will afford these youth the availability of best-practice treatment modalities in closer proximity to their families which is critical to their recovery and resiliency. “Consistent with our mission, we believe this is the right approach, at the right time, to achieve the maximum benefit for those receiving these vital clinical services, she added. “Our government partners and advocacy organizations – as well as the families of those we serve – are also supportive of this direction.”
Kevin Sheetz, Chair of the Woods Board of Trustees, said the Board enthusiastically supports the leadership’s strategic direction, including the shift towards community-centered treatment services in specific instances. “Our plan is a reflection of Woods’ unwavering commitment to delivering – either on campus or in the community – the highest quality personalized supports and programs to the exceptional children and adults we serve throughout their lives. Excellent progress has been made over the past two years, and the future is bright for those we serve and our extraordinary co-workers and colleagues throughout the Woods network.”
These latest developments exemplify Woods’ continued evolution into a contemporary population-health organization that integrates prevention, wellness, education, and behavioral health with coordinated and integrated health care delivery. Woods significantly enhanced its health care delivery last year with the opening of the new Medical Center at Woods. The Medical Center serves as an emerging national model for providing comprehensive, coordinated personalized care for people with complex diagnoses and medical conditions. The outpatient center features extended hours and increased access to more specialized services, aimed at optimizing outcomes while reducing costly and unnecessary emergency room visits. Woods also has round-the-clock nursing services and plans to widely replicate this model in other locations.
Hansen-Turton noted that Woods has been in discussion with Bucks County officials concerning new opportunities for re-imagining use of facilities and properties that comprise the 300-acre campus that are consistent with Woods’ mission. Woods expects to open up its existing campus, integrate it more into the community, provide services to underserved populations and, in the process, create jobs and advance the economic wellbeing of Bucks County and beyond. “I have tremendous respect for Woods and its leadership who continually innovate better ways to serve individuals with cognitive and behavior-related disabilities,” said Jon Rubin, Bucks County Director of Housing and Human Services, who is among officials directly involved in the collaboration.
Looking ahead, Hansen-Turton said Woods would soon announce the selection of a site-planning partner, and the next phase of the campus redevelopment/design process, that will include substantial input from numerous stakeholders, including government, funders, advocates, and, of course, families. The overarching goal is to provide service recipients and their families with new options for support, especially for those who are looking for enriching growth opportunities after aging out of existing education programs.
