Comfort & Care: McCarrick Care Center celebrates 20th year of faithful ministry
By Kathleen Ogle
Managing Editor
SOMERSET — The Margaret McLaughlin McCarrick Center commemorated its 20th year of providing care and comfort to the elderly with a Mass of thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski Sept. 13.
Concelebrants included Father Thomas P. Ganley, chaplain; Father Maurice Carlton, former chaplain; Msgr. William J. Capik; and Msgr. John Torney.
McCarrick Care Center is named for the mother of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen.
Following the Mass, Bishop Bootkoski visited the residential units of the Catholic nursing home and mingled with guests at a reception on the patio.
The not-for-profit skilled nursing facility, which is owned and operated by Saint Peter’s University Healthcare System, opened in January 1988. The facility, which has 120 beds for the elderly encountering difficulty living independently, has had a 98 percent occupancy rate since its second year of operation.
In his homily, Bishop Bootkoski said the effort to establish a Catholic nursing home in the newly created Diocese of Metuchen was spearheaded by Msgr. Capik as part of the diocese’s concern for “respect for life from the womb to the tomb.”
The bishop said because his own mother spent several years in a nursing home he knows “how important it is for loved ones to trust their elderly to the care of people who care.”
Acknowledging the beauty of the building and grounds — the facility sits on 10 wooded acres inhabited by wild birds, deer and squirrels — Bishop Bootkoski pointed to staff as the factor that makes McCarrick Care Center stand out.
“What makes this particular facility special is not the building,” he said. “That’s secondary. What really makes it is the staff, the people who care, the people who come in here day after day and minister to our loved ones.
“This place is on the map,” he continued. “Believe me, my brother priests and I have been to many nursing homes to visit our parishioners throughout the state of New Jersey, but I don’t think there is any finer place than McCarrick.”
In interviews with the administration and staff of McCarrick Care Center, the care and concern of the staff for residents was a resounding theme.
Ann Gumbinger, social worker, poses in front of a special display that tells the story of residents’ lives.
Ann Gumbinger, social worker, said that Jim Caron, administrator, and Genevieve Rumor, director of nursing, “don’t have any ’round to it,” referring to the expression “I’ll get around to it.”
‘If someone needs something, it happens immediately,” Gumbinger said.
Caron, who has served as administrator of McCarrick Care Center for 19 of its 20 years of operations, said that like all nursing homes, he has seen a significant shift in the needs of residents.
“We used to have people who were ambulatory. With the advent of assisted living our population has become even older and even frailer,” Caron said, adding that there has been a “tremendous increase” in the number of patients with dementia.
Gumbinger explained that McCarrick does not have a separate dementia unit but offers dementia-sensitive care in which residents continue to be part of the community.
“With end of life care you need to be people specialists,” Gumbinger said. “People are not defined by their disease, they are defined by their needs and how we can help them get through each day. To get through a 24-hour period, it’s nice to have things to do. You need to be kept busy, you need to have your dignity.”
The average age of McCarrick’s residents is 89, he said.
Caron started the Friends of McCarrick Committee, which raises funds for the center among other activities. The group recently purchased a wheelchair accessible van that allows residents make outings.
As Gumbinger works to keep the families involved and informed, Angelita Tirso, activities director, keeps the residents busy and active with a variety of programming.
Each day offers three activities for residents, including an opportunity to gather as a group each afternoon, Tirso said. There are events specifically geared to men and other events for women. Live entertainment is provided at least once a week, and every other month there’s a dinner party with a different theme and the residents plan the menu.
The Personal Enrichment Program, or PEP, is for residents who need quiet space for activities that interest them.
“There’s tables of people assembling flowers, some people maybe looking through magazines, other people may be folding clothes, whatever it is that makes them feel accomplished and good about themselves. For example, they would not function well at a bingo game, even if they were down there watching a bingo game they would feel inferior. This is specifically geared toward them,” Gumbinger explained.
And if a resident doesn’t come to the PEP Room, Tirso brings PEP to the resident’s room.
Tirso emphasized the care and support that McCarrick offers to families of residents as well. “There is hand holding to the end,” she said. “We are there for the family.”
Employees often attend residents’ funerals, Gumbinger said.
“We become friends with the people who pass this way. They teach us and we share with them,”
Edwin Keefe and Virgil “Wink” Winkler, members of the Friends of McCarrick Committee, served as ushers for the Sept. 13 Mass commemorating McCarrick Care Center’s 20th anniversary.
According to McCarrick Care Center’s mission statement, the Catholic health care facility serves “humanity by transforming the human condition through reconciliation, healing, stewardship and respect for all people.” It also emphasizes the “sacredness and dignity of each person from conception to natural death.”
Mass is celebrated five days a week at the nursing home, and the Rosary is recited every night. Tirso works closely with the Catholic schools that send groups of students to visit the residents or to sing for them during the holidays.
Father Thomas P. Ganley serves as chaplain at McCarrick. If for some reason he is not available, located on the grounds of McCarrick Care Center is Maria Regina, a residence for retired priests.
Two residents — Mary Pulda and Ed Burns, who were voted Valentine’s Day King and Queen by the staff and residents — shared their experience living at McCarrick Care Center.
Pulda, 97, has been living at McCarrick Care Center for almost two years. Having spent much time at McCarrick while her husband was a resident in his last year of life, Pulda said she was very comfortable moving into the nursing home.
“I like most everything. I get treated well, and they have nice activities here, which is good,” she said, acknowledging that she tires easily.
Pulda goes to Mass every day.
“Thank God my mind is alright,” she said. “I can’t say that about the rest of my body. I get tired and weak.”
Burns, 90, lived his whole life in New Brunswick, graduating from St. Peter the Apostle Elementary and High Schools. Two years ago, he moved into McCarrick Care Center.
“I started to age and I started to fail in my health, falling and stuff like that. I was alone because my wife had died.”
After falling at home, he decided to move into McCarrick Care Center.
Burns said he enjoys the men’s group breakfasts and exercises every day.
