Heather Cory

Jeffrey B. Klein, executive director and CEO of Nevada Senior Services, opens the door to the new Adult Day Care Center of Henderson. Located next to Nevada State College, the facility offers adult day care, support groups and education opportunities.

By Jeremy Twitchell (contact)

Tue, Jan 6, 2009 (12:01 a.m.)

Heather Cory

Jeffrey B. Klein, executive director and CEO of Nevada Senior Services, walks through the serenity garden at the new Adult Day Care Center of Henderson, located next to Nevada State College. The garden, which is fenced in, will give clients the opportunity to spend time outside without the fear that someone will wander off.

Jeffrey Klein stands in the cavernous room and gestures. The walls are blank and the room doesn't have a single piece of furniture, but Klein doesn't appear to see that as he speaks. He sees only what will be.

Klein, the executive director and chief executive of Nevada Senior Services, Inc., is standing in the activity room of the newly completed Adult Day Care Center of Henderson, built between the two buildings of Nevada State College on the future Nathan Adelson Hospice campus in southeast Henderson.

As soon as Nevada Senior Services completes its licensing with the state in the coming weeks, Klein hopes to open the doors to care for up to 80 senior Henderson residents six days a week. The center will cater to individuals with cognitive disorders or physical disabilities as well as patients recovering from stroke or a traumatic brain injury.

The company already operates an adult day care center at Jones Boulevard and Washington Avenue in Las Vegas.

The Adult Day Care Center of Henderson is built on land that Henderson donated to the Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation for a hospice facility. Henderson, Clark County and the federal government gave a total of $3.4 million in Community Development Block Grants to fund the day care's construction.

The foundation is working on raising $10 million more to build a hospice adjacent to the day care facility, Karen Rubel, Nathan Adelson's vice president of development, said, but it is difficult to project how long it will take to raise the funds.

The Nathan Adelson project, however, will begin to make its presence felt with the adult day care.

From traditional activities like bingo and shuffleboard to tai chi classes, Klein said, the goal is to make the Henderson facility a place that its clients will want to be.

"We expect to have a high energy, pulsing environment for seniors," he said.

In the back, there will be a vibrant arts and crafts program using donated and recycled materials, and on a makeshift stage somewhere in the middle, there will be daily live entertainment.

Klein said the activities will be the heart of the center, and they will constantly change based on what patrons want.

"I try to challenge our staff all of the time to not get caught up in routine and to be creative," Klein said. "That's why we do things like tai chi. … Otherwise you get a warehouse, and we don't want a warehouse."

The center will also use cutting-edge computer programs designed to help those who have suffered a stroke or brain injury to rehabilitate and help Alzheimer's patients to retain memory and function for as long as possible.

Klein is particularly proud of the full-service kitchen, which will provide two meals a day and snacks for clients, tailored to their dietary needs. Senior nutrition, he said, can be a challenge to even the most concerned caregivers.

"One of the things we assume is that even in the very best of homes, with the most caring families, nutrition isn't everything it should be," Klein said. "We work closely to stock a wide variety of food. That way, if someone says, 'I don't want it,' we don't argue with them. Our chef will run out and ask 'What do you want?' And if we can make it, we will."

Klein personally understands the challenges that can come with caring for aging family members — he and his wife care for her 87-year-old father.

The facility will also offer support groups, lectures, training and classes for the family members who care for elderly loved ones, Klein said.

"We really expect the facility to be a repository of education and community support for geriatric services," he said.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or jeremy.twitchell@hbcpub.com.