State certifies Good Shepherd Fairview Home to provide enhanced assisted-living services

BINGHAMTON — The New York State Department of Health recently certified Good Shepherd Fairview Home as a provider of enhanced assisted-living residential (EALR) services.

Good Shepherd Communities, the parent organization, announced the certification in a news release distributed June 9.

The EALR certification allows Good Shepherd Fairview Home to care for residents who exceed certain retention standards of adult homes, enriched-housing programs, or assisted-living residences. 

If a residence has an EALR certification, individuals can continue to live there, even if they need another person’s assistance to walk, transfer, climb or descend stairs, or operate medical equipment. 

An EALR allows residents to delay, and in some cases, prevent having to seek nursing- home placement, the organization said.

Good Shepherd Fairview Home’s enhanced assisted-living unit provides 35 beds for residents.

The facility couldn’t provide the additional service “for many years,” Michael Keenan, president and CEO of Good Shepherd Communities, said in the news release.

“It meant families were faced with difficult decisions as they tried to decide their loved one’s next level of care. Now, we can provide additional services and increased nursing care,” Keenan said.

Good Shepherd Fairview Home, located at 80 Fairview Ave. in Binghamton, has been providing care for more than 140 years, the organization said. 

A board of directors that includes community representatives governs the home, while Good Shepherd maintains its ties to the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. 

It is open to people of all faiths.