Crest Haven Celebrates Six Decades

CREST HAVEN – Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. To highlight that milestone, Freeholder Kristine Gabor, director of Health and Human Services, and other freeholders hosted an open house Oct. 3. The event included tours and demonstrations of the various programs and services offered at the center located at 12 Moore Road.
The celebration was intended to give the public an opportunity to visit the center and learn about the expanded health care programs available.
Staff provided information on programs offered at Crest Haven such as speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy. Also, health care professionals were available to provide and to answer an array of questions. Additionally, vendors representing other countywide health care organizations were on hand.
A plaque was presented by Martin Pagliughi, county emergency management coordinator, to the center for the work of its kitchen staff during Hurricane Sandy. The staff prepared many meals for shelter residents throughout the county.
One of the speakers was Diane DeVico. She spoke about her late mother, Mary Lea Mills, who had been Crest Haven’s director of nursing, and was later a resident.
Mills, 89, of Court House, passed away July 21, 2013 at Crest Haven Nursing Home. She moved to Cape May County in 1945 from Maitland, Mo. An Army veteran of World War II, she was a second lieutenant in the Army Nursing Corps. She was a registered nurse at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital and Director of Nursing at Crest Haven Nursing Home before her retirement. She also taught practical nursing at Cape May County Vo-Tech.
Mills was one of many who, through the decades, worked to make the facility a caring home for county residents who needed long-term nursing care.
The present building is the third center built by the county since 1821.
First constructed as the county Almshouse, the Board of Chosen Freeholders recognized the need to care for the residents of the county who were no longer able to care for or support themselves.
The evolution from Almshouse to Welfare Home to Crest Haven Nursing Home in 1953 has become an important part of the history of Cape May County and the commitment of the Freeholder Board to the quality of life of the residents of Cape May County.
The county’s William E. Sturm Administration Building was used as the nursing home from that time until the present facility was constructed.
Construction of the present 180-bed facility, Crest Haven Nursing Home, began on March 10, 1990. The site is not far from the original Almshouse.
Crest Haven continues to expand to meet the needs of the county and offers residents of Cape May County quality nursing and rehabilitation care, according to a release.
In 2003, Crest Haven expanded its rehabilitation program and developed a short-term care-post acute program. At that time, the name was changed to Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Under the direction of Gabor, Crest Haven continues to strive to expand services to meet the needs of county residents and offer nursing and rehabilitation care.