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By CINDY V. CULP Tribune-Herald staff writer
The newly completed Providence Park long-term care facility isn't
your grandmother's nursing home.
With three beauty salons, wait-staff style dining, game rooms and an
ice-cream bar, the new facility more closely resembles an upscale
hotel than what most people think of as a nursing home.
Tufted leather couches accent cozy libraries, a see-through
fireplace dominates the lobby and the chapel feels like a regular
church, complete with stained glass windows and floor seating for
90.
No wonder the place already has a waiting list — and it has yet to
open.
The main hint the new center isn't Waco's newest hotel is in the
details. Hallways and elevators are extra wide to accommodate those
in wheelchairs or walkers. The beauty salon has a height-adjustable
shampooing station and the chapel's balcony is wheelchair
accessible.
Kent A. Keahey, president and CEO of Providence Healthcare Network,
which built the new facility, says the idea behind the $22.7 million
project is to make residents feel at home. Whether they live in the
independent living, assisted living or nursing home section, the
goal is to make residents feel they belong there.
"I think it will be one of the premier long-term housing complexes
in the state," Keahey says, "and I think it's something Waco can be
proud of."
Construction on Providence Park, located next to Providence Health
Center off Highway 6, began about two years ago. The idea was to
replace the area's two Catholic long-term care facilities, both of
which were aging and ill-designed for that purpose.
One of those nursing homes, St. Catherine Center, 1700 Providence
Dr., is owned by Providence, whose parent company is Ascension
Health. The other, the Regis/St. Elizabeth Centers, 400 Austin Ave.,
is owned by CHRISTUS Health. Once residents from the CHRISTUS
facility are transferred to Providence Park, the health system will
leave the Waco market to concentrate on areas where it has an acute
care hospital.
Keahey says the two centers have been working closely the past
couple of years to bring enrollment and staffing down at both
facilities to make the transition smoother. Although Providence Park
dwarfs St. Catherine and the Regis/St. Elizabeth in size and
capacity, there are 90 fewer beds at the new facility than at the
two existing facilities combined.
Michael Sims, vice president for long-term care services and
administrator of St. Catherine as well as the new facility, says the
sharpest decrease is in the number of nursing-care beds. The new
center has more independent and assisted living units, he says.
Keahey says Providence decided to build a facility with fewer
overall beds because new long-term care facilities have been built
in Waco in recent years, decreasing the demand. As for the cut in
nursing-care beds, trends in the long-term care industry are toward
people wanting more assisted living or independent living
accommodations.
The breakdown of accommodations on the seven-acre campus: 240
nursing care beds, including an Alzheimer's unit and 172 beds
certified for Medicare recipients; 40 assisted-living apartments;
and 61 independent-living apartments. Each of the three sections has
its own staff, for a total of about 250 employees.
Almost all of the new center's initial residents will be transfers
from the existing two nursing homes, Sims says. Because of that, the
facility plans to be at near-capacity when residents move in May 12.
Thus, he says, the extensive waiting list.
Keahey says he thinks the new center will prove popular because it
is only the second in the area to offer a "continuum of care"
concept. That means residents start living at the center while still
independent, then progress to assisted living and finally the
nursing-care center when they need more care.
Not only does this setup give residents peace of mind, Keahey says,
it also works well for couples that may be at different points in
the care spectrum, he says.
Other amenities include a doctor's office that residents' physicians
can use for appointments; craft rooms, game rooms, libraries and a
professional greenhouse; and exercise and therapy rooms.
The facility's proximity to Providence Health Center, one of Waco's
two hospitals, is also a benefit, Keahey says.
As for the two existing long-term care facilities, both are on the
market. Regis/St. Elizabeth administrator Doug Wuenschel says
prospective buyers have expressed interest in turning the building,
once a hotel, into apartments. However, no contract has been signed
yet.
Providence is also trying to sell St. Catherine. But Keahey says it
might prove difficult: The facility was originally built to be a
hospital and is not conducive to many uses. If no one makes an offer
in the next several years, Providence may tear down the structure
and simply retain the land, he says.
Alice Baker, an 88-year-old resident of the Regis/St. Elizabeth,
says the idea of moving came as a surprise. She jokes that when she
moved into the facility eight years ago, she thought her next move
would be to the cemetery.
So, she says, she is looking forward to her new accommodations.
"This is progress," she says. "We'll adjust to it. We'll get used to
it."
Cindy V. Culp can be reached at 757-5744 or at cculp@wacotrib.com.
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