Ordinarily, adding a hair salon to an eldercare community isn’t a big deal, a side deal at best. But at Vienna Nursing & Rehabilitation Center of Lodi, CA, it’s a centerpiece.
In fact, Vienna administrator Corey Wright calls it “the best salon in town.”
Salon Vienna “is not your typical four-walled room that looks utilitarian,” he says. “We wanted to make a statement. The attention to detail and the finishing touches make it truly a thing of beauty.”
The 1,300-square-foot salon suite is located 20 feet south of the main building and is connected by a covered walkway. It is housed in a space formerly occupied by a solo practitioner physician, part of a 4,000 square-foot medical suite Vienna acquired in 2012.
The new salon idea began in earnest in February 2018.
“When we bought the property, we had talked about potential use and kept going back to the concept of a new beauty salon,” Wright recalls. “It took quite a while to get approval permits to move forward. Overall, it took nine months to complete.”
Wright credits Vienna owner Ken Heffel with having “a great vision” for the salon. Together, they created the design and oversaw the $300,000 remodeling project.
Soft chandelier lighting, marble-inspired flooring and granite countertops provide a modern aesthetic that accompanies three styling stations, two hair-washing stations and four wall-mounted hair dryers. The dryers and sinks are adjustable, to fit each individual’s height.
Each station has one standard salon chair, with plenty of room allocated for wheelchairs.
Other furnishings include a full-sized pedicure chair with a massage back and a manicure table. Incorporated into the design is a special vignette area showcasing an antique barber pole and antique barber chair with razor strap and pedestal sink.
With 150 beds for skilled nursing residents and short-term rehab patients, the old salon was small and provided tight quarters for the beauticians. When the medical space became available, Heffel and Wright agreed on the importance of creating a place to make people feel rejuvenated.
“The first thing people want when they are discharged from acute care to a SNF is to take a shower, wash their hair and shave,” Wright says. “We try to get new arrivals into our beauty salon within 24 hours … part of the healing process and journey to recovery is feeling good about yourself and personal hygiene is a big part of that.”
Salon services go beyond personal hygiene to include dental hygiene as well, with a specially trained dental hygienist hired to perform routine cleaning and assessments.
“Oral care in the SNF population has not been a priority and often gets overlooked, so we created a space for it,” Wright says. “We have purchased all the machinery and tools needed for this additional service that is available to our residents and patients on a daily basis.”
From the May 1, 2019 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
