Tsali Care Center sits in the mountains of Cherokee, North Carolina, and has 120 resident rooms in a newly built, modern facility designed to help people feel comfortable and respected. The center serves many needs, including assisted living, long-term care, skilled nursing, memory care, independent living, home care, adult day services, home health care, and hospice care. The nursing staff includes registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and nursing assistants, and someone's always on duty, day or night, ready to give personalized care. With 72 certified skilled nursing beds, Tsali Care Center offers short-term rehab and ongoing care for folks who need more support between hospital and home, and it handles the very frail with careful, hands-on nursing.
Families can decorate living areas with familiar things from home to make rooms feel more personal, and there are both private and semi-private rooms. Residents can use many shared spaces like courtyards, gardens, dining rooms, a fitness room, a library, computer center, living rooms, friends and family bistro, beauty shop, wellness center, and a recreational room, and the place has buffet-style meals, snacks designed by the kitchen to meet nutrition needs, and banking services. The staff runs activities like movies, parties, outings, religious services, field trips, holiday dinners, and cook-outs, and there's a resident council so voices get heard.
Tsali Care Center has its own transportation service and helps arrange other travel when needed. Special services include on-site Davita Dialysis, memory care programming, social work support, and a full activities department. Residents get housekeeping and laundry service, in-room cable TV, free phone service for local and long-distance calls, and there are visible nurse stations throughout the building. The facility has a total care program that's tailored to each senior's needs, with care plans ranging from independent living to help with personal care, medication, meals, and more. Staff are trained for the unique needs of seniors, and the center offers short-term respite care for families needing a break.
The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority manages Tsali Care Center. The center is a non-profit and CMS-rated facility, and it accepts Medicaid and Medicare. The building is associated with two addresses but operates at 55 Echota Church Road and provides many services under the Tsali Care Center name at 267 Tsali Care Way. As a skilled rehabilitation facility, Tsali Care Center has had 60 documented deficiencies in recent years, including three linked to infection control, with two recent reports about nutrition and safe dialysis, though none caused actual harm, but showed areas for improvement. The average resident count is 57, with about 4.32 nurse hours per resident a day, and a nurse turnover rate of 68.9%. Inspection and complaint reports, including those about infection-control, can be reviewed for anyone interested. The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association recognizes Tsali Care Center. The facility tries to create a safe and caring home for every resident, using a team approach and by keeping families involved whenever possible.
