CVH Board Secretary Mary Davis, CVH Board Member Mary El Emerson, CVH Board President Byron Harrington, CVH Executive Director Jennifer Randall, and CVH Board Member and Capital Campaign Chairperson John Antonowicz. Not pictured: Vice President Peter DeRensis; Treasurer Rosemaria Cole; Board Members Allison Gunther, Lisa Natoli, Esq., and Cathy Perry; and CVH capital campaign committee members Robert Nassar, Virginia Lee, and Kathy Glavin. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — Chenango Valley Home and Apartments (CVH), located at 24 Canasawacta Street in Norwich, launched their “Empowering Seniors: Expanding Care Access” capital campaign in May to assist them in changing their licensure from a New York State Adult Home to an Assisted Living Residence (ALR).

CVH Board President Byron Harrington said as an adult home, the facility can provide meals, assist residents with getting dressed or bathing, and things of that nature. However, adult homes are not allowed to provide any type of nursing care, such as applying band-aids or ointments, wound care, or taking a resident's temperature.

He said upgrading their license to an ALR would allow them to provide more types of care to their residents, and it would also prevent discharges of residents who develop the need for additional care over time.

"Assisted living will get us more care. [We can] take care of people longer," he said. "We figure about 50 percent of our discharges could have stayed here had we been assisted living. We’ve had to turn away 20 people [because] we weren’t the level that they needed."