The former Riverside Convalescent Center–Mathews has a new name to go with its new services—Riverside Lifelong Health and Rehabilitation Center.

The change has come about because of the facility’s certification last year as a skilled in-patient nursing rehabilitation center, said Administrator Melissa Evans.

“Rehab means getting active, getting better, and being able to go back home and function at home again,” she said.

All of Riverside’s former convalescent centers now offer rehabilitation services for people who have been in the hospital and need help getting back on their feet, said Evans. And, while the facility was primarily a Medicaid facility before, it now accepts Medicare for its skilled rehabilitation patients.

“It expands what we can offer to the Mathews community,” she said.

Evans said that last year, before Riverside became certified, a resident needed IV antibiotics and had to be sent to Gloucester to receive them.

“We can now provide that,” she said. ...