Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab Brings the Best in Rehab Facilities to Mid-South Area

MJHR has been serving the community for almost 93 years. Committed to the needs of seniors and their families, MJHR continuously looks to make improvements to care and the facility so that it can remain the most requested place for seniors. With the addition of our new rehabwing, we have done just that.

With help from several foundations and many generous individuals in the Memphis community, more than $7.7 million was raised to build an approximately 24,000 square-foot addition and add needed equipment. Named the Belz Family Foundations Rehabilitation Facility, the new addition is home to the largest rehab gym for seniors in the area, an aquatic therapy center, activities of daily living suite and a 16-room patient wing.

The Judy and Larry Moss Rehab Gym is not only the largest rehab gym in the area, it includes a multitude of features to help seniors succeed in reaching their physical, occupational and speech therapy goals. Since the space opened at the end of September, word is getting out. When families tour, they are astounded when they first see the Moss Rehab Gym.

“To watch our patients work so hard in this beautiful new space is so rewarding,” said Yolonda Holley, director of rehabilitation. “The energy is contagious as they watch other patients work hard to get stronger, they want to work hard too.”

The Plough Foundation Aquatic Therapy Center is the highlight of the expansion. The first patient to try out the pool had her right knee replaced. She was so excited to be walking using the underwater treadmill, “It’s so much easier to walk in the water than on land with a walker,” she said. “When I get my other knee done, I’m coming back!”

Her therapist was able to watch via live video feed from several camera angles on a screen he could see from the pool. “I can actually see how far she was able to bend her knee as she practiced squats and lunges,” he said. “I could also keep an eye on her gait under the water while she was walking.” The therapist also used the jets to massage her knee.

As part of this facility upgrade, 16 new patient rooms and the conversion of existing downstairs double rooms to private rooms have enabled all patients now coming for rehab at MJHR to have a private room and bathroom. The 16 new rooms each have a roll-in shower in the private bath. “The most common request we have from families is that their loved one have a private room,” said Stephanie Williford, director of marketing/admissions. “We’re getting more and more referrals as word gets out about our new addition, as well.”

“We’re so grateful to the community for being our partners in this project,” said Joel Ashner, director of philanthropy and community engagement. “If it weren’t for them, we couldn’t have made this addition happen. Everyone we met with was so positive and wanted to be a part of it. We can’t thank them enough!”