Video game livens up Clark Fork Valley Hospital

Jes Stugelmayer

Video games have enabled players to do just about everything since their boom in the 1980’s, but now the Nintendo Wii game system has caused a special stir in the long term care wing at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital, enriching the lives of residents and staff alike.

Long term care is for patients who can no longer care for themselves, suffering with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, among others.

DeAnna Pacovsky, long term care activities coordinator for Clark Fork Valley Hospital, said just because the patients live in the hospital, it does not mean that their lives are over.

“They’re not here to melt away. They’re here to live and have fun,” said Pacovsky, a certified nursing assistant.

Pacovsky organized a Wii Bowling tournament with a goal to create a more interactive exchange between hospital employees from other departments and the long term care residents. She said her focus was to come up with something that was more meaningful to both the patients and employees. Unexpected to her, it allowed a more versatile range of activities for residents as well.

Pacovsky said employees who wanted to participate in the tournament signed up and then she arranged the teams, consisting of three employees and one resident. Teams bowled once a week and the team with the highest combined score moved on to the next round of competition.

Russell Greene, a quadriplegic patient, was a member of one championship team. Wii is a game system based on motion, rather than just pressing buttons alone, creating a more interactive experience for the player. With assistance, he is able to move the controller with enough force to bowl the fictitious ball down the lane.

Pacovsky said that it was Greene’s idea to purchase the Wii gaming system over a year ago. Greene said he had the Wii in his room before it was moved to the common area for the tournament. Greene also plays Wii Tennis and Wii Baseball.

Greene, 37, is the youngest of the long term care patients. However, the age difference doesn’t bother him because he has been in similar facilities since he was 19. He spends his days wheeling along the halls of the hospital making sure the staff is smiling.

“It’s not a real exciting life, but it’s enough for me,” said Greene.

Greene ended with a score of 115 for the official tournament game, but ended with a 146 in a game directly following that was played just for fun. He admitted that he should have practiced for the tournament but didn’t. He liked that it brought people together, and he was confident in his teammates to pull out a win.

Greene’s confidence paid off, when his team was crowned the first Clark Fork Valley Hospital Wii Bowling Champions on Jan. 7, ending the tournament that started in December. Team 6 finished with a final combined score of 591 on Jan. 5 and waited anxiously until team 9 bowled two days later ending with score of 552.

Team 6 included Russell Greene, DeAnna Pacovsky, Cassy Ducept and Danene McNamara. Team 9 preferred to go by pseudonyms of Cheryl “Flo” Kegel, Holly “Alice” Hunt, Chris “Bertha” Cockrell and resident Rose “Rosie” Neumeyer.

“I think they’ve all had fun. I know our residents have,” said Janet Gates. Gates has been manager of long term care, affectionately known as “b-wing,” for the past two years.

Gates said one of her main interests is to keep the residents connected with the community by giving them a social life. The enthusiasm generated by the interaction between the staff and residents is infectious. Seeing and feeling the energy is the payoff for Gates.

“Whether they are bowling or not they are enjoying the interaction. It’s a happening place,” she laughed.

Gates said that funds raised from a recent bazaar will be used to purchase a new sound system and a new flat screen television for Wii play. She said the tournament more than exceeded her expectations.

“The general public is realizing that living here is living. It’s not just existing,” she said.