Heritage of Emerson

The facility itself is very nice, clean, and well equipped. I came to know this facility through my work with a partnering senior citizens center. The challenges faced by this assisted living / skilled nursing facility are unique because of the various cultural and ethnic backgrounds contributing to the beneficiary population. Staff members are truly dedicated and work closely with other local aging services to provide culturally sensitive, person-centered care to each client. However, staff is small and many activities rely heavily on volunteer commitment. Emerson, Nebraska, is located just south of Winnebago and Walthill--both towns are located on Native American reservation; the cultural differences in communication, family-structure, end-of-life planning, and religious practices differ significantly for each population. This requires Heritage to provide an additional service which many assisted-living-center staff in other facilities do not have to provide -- facilitation across cultural barriers, an absolute necessity to providing quality care to their clients.