Construction of senior care facilities and communities is bustling in Lake and Geauga counties, with major projects taking place in Concord, Chardon and Willoughby Hills.

Lake and Geauga counties are considered “underbedded” areas for nursing home and assisted living services. In the most recent county profiles from 2013, Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services reported that Geauga only had eight nursing homes and 11 residential care facilities. Lake County only had slightly more, 13 nursing homes and 10 residential care facilities. Those numbers reflect the challenge of serving a growing older population. 

By December of this year, Concord will gain a new nursing home and rehabilitation facility off Capital Parkway. Concord Continuing Care Facility will be an 82,700-square-foot building, including 104 beds, a rehabilitation center and a geriatric psychiatric unit. The facility will add 120 employees to the Concord-Painesville Joint Economic Development District.

Chardon will gain a new long-term and short-term care facility, as well as see a 24,000-square-foot expansion to a previous nursing home, the Residence of Chardon.

The new 70,000-square-foot facility, named Mapleview Country Villa, accepted its first patient July 1. The Mapleview, located on South Street in Chardon, will not be able to accept any more than two patients until they pass the Ohio Department of Health’s final survey. There will be 110 new jobs generated from this facility, which can hold 100 patients. 

“A need out here is all the private rooms we have. The biggest thing is they have to share a room. The last time they did that was in college and now they’re 90, no one wants to do that,” said Diane Laneve, administrator of the Mapleview Country Villa. 

Finally, Willoughby Hills will be seeing a new senior community apartments for ages 55 and up. The developers, Clover Group of Buffalo, New York, emphasized that this is not a nursing home or assisted living facility. The apartment building will, however, include an on-site beauty salon, fitness center and in-house van service for grocery trips. 

There will be 119 apartment units in the Willoughby Hills Senior Apartments on Chardon Road, attracting more taxpayers contributing to the city and schools in the Willoughby Hills area. 

Clover Group said that its expects to open the apartments to tenants around February or March of 2016.

These areas stood to gain nursing care and senior living communities, not only because of the growing older populations and underserved need, but because they’re located near hospitals and health care facilities.

Author: By Lindsey O'Brien, The News-Herald
Source; http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20150705/construction-of-senior-care-facilities-communities-increasing