Memory Care > The John McClure Snook Center

The John McClure Snook Regional Center is Mercy Medical's state-of-the-art memory care community, designed as a secure, comforting home for residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia. The Center provides a safe, caring and memory enhancing environment where residents can live with dignity in an atmosphere of love and understanding.

Licensed and certified by the State of Alabama, the John McClure Snook Center is a 64-bed, 30,500-sq. ft. regional facility, architecturally designed for memory-impaired residents. The centered opened in early 2004 with three pods that are home for its 47 residents, and this year opened its fourth and final pod. A pod consists of 16 bedroom and bath combinations with a central living, dining, and kitchen areas plus a secure, outdoor courtyard. Its promenade features a main-street American shopscape with an ambience of yesteryear and mementos from the past. Memory-focused activities, group exercise and the sights and sounds of yesteryear enrich the lives of residents and enhance their health and lifestyle.

Location & Staff
The John McClure Snook Center, is located in close proximity to Mobile, Pensacola and the rest of Baldwin County. It is easily accessible from other parts of the Gulf Coast and surrounding states from I-10 and Highways 90, 98 and 27. One of the greatest advantages of its location — Mercy Medical’s primary Daphne healthcare campus is only three miles away. All residents are provided access to Mercy Medical's healthcare network of services. The center’s specially trained staff offers family counseling, education and support services to the community in addition to 24/7 nursing care for its residents. All staff members receive extensive and ongoing training in Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

Designed to feel like home
The Center’s design feels more like home, allowing for a family-oriented atmosphere, in small groupings, to reduce anxiety, isolation and confusion by:

• Providing common areas where residents can participate in family-like activities with a small group of neighbors in each pod
• Allowing residents to use the secure courtyard any time they need fresh air, sunlight or a place to roam
• Designating landmarks to assist residents in identifying their personal space and finding their way around the center
• Furnishing the Center with antiques, pictures and other memorabilia to provide a degree of comfort and sense of security for residents
• Providing a Shopscape to mimic Main Street, America, to include a barber shop, beauty salon, a soda fountain, a library and a post office

Designed to meet special needs
Mercy has based the center’s design on current research regarding facility design, programming and staff training for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The John McClure Snook Regional Center is

• Arranged with residents’ privacy in mind. Each resident has his or her own bedroom and bathroom and shares common areas and activities.
• A 30,500-sq. ft. complex is arranged in a “pod” design, with “pods” attached to a central building. This design places the bedrooms in close proximity to the living room, dining room and kitchen. See floor plans.
• One level allows access to safe, secure outdoor spaces

Support for the resident and family
Because we understand how Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias can affect a person and his or her family, Mercy offers assistance in the areas of counseling, education and support. Levels of care provide as much assistance as is required, depending on the individual's needs. Mercy provides:

• Specifically designed services, such as therapeutic intervention, physician-directed medical care, therapeutic recreation, pharmacy services
• Family counseling, education and support group services
• A plan for future clinical research component to include early testing and evaluation and medication trials