A specially-designed cabinet to hold residents’ personal items conveniently has met  with immediate success in beta tests at healthcare facilities in both New York State and California. 

Called My Companion, the patented unit is produced by furniture manufacturer Artone Manufacturing, based in Jamestown NY, and is designed to improve the quality of life for nursing care residents and patients.

Healthcare professionals and hospital administrators have hailed the design concept as revolutionary: “It is wonderful, and amazing that no-one has thought of this before,” remarked Lori Carlson, Assistant Director of Residential Services at The Resource Center in Jamestown, NY.  The facility provides specialist nursing care services to support individuals with developmental disabilities, and has been testing 11 cabinets.

“We have found that the My Companion helps to keep personal items organized, in a convenient location, and easily accessible for the residents,” said Lori. “It helps to promote the resident’s independence on a daily basis. The My Companion is a welcome addition to our homes.”

The cabinets have been donated by Artone Manufacturing to a number of hospital and residential facilities throughout western New York and in central California at zero cost to the facilities with a value from $2,000 to $30,000. The facilities can keep the furniture after the completion of the beta testing.

Designer John Bradford Brandon explained: “The purpose of the beta testing was to establish the actual levels of improvement of the wellbeing and care for residents, as well as to evaluate My Companion for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.”

John set out to design a cabinet which would be attractive, therapeutic, and efficient; and which would improve the quality of life for user-residents as well as for healthcare staff.  The My Companion makes the traditional night-stand obsolete and is a radically new piece of furniture.

"Nothing else like this has ever designed or built before," explained John: “The biggest difference is the ‘store and sort’ carousel that easily revolves for accessing all the personal items of the resident, at their fingertips and at eye-level. There is a place for every item that a resident would need, from the magazine rack to a handy spot for their TV remote.“