Senior Housing and Assisted Living

St. Louis-area-based Paric is set to begin a $4.6 million renovation project of an existing skilled nursing facility at the Village of St. Mary’s “Villa Theresa” Continuum of Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in O’Fallon, Missouri. The 51,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility renovation is expected to begin in February, with an estimated 10-month timeline for completion. Phase II of the housing development project, which includes renovation of approximately 21,000 square feet of existing space into 15 affordable apartment units for seniors began in October. Phase I was completed in September.  The project is a joint venture between The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood and McEagle Properties, LLC and The Lawrence Group serving as the architect.

The WSJ recently ran a article and video entitled, “Retirement Community For Gays Struggles To Get Off The Ground” about a proposed project in the Santa Rosa, California town.  The project for Fountaingrove Lodge was to create 140 upscale units that would accommodate residents from retirement through assisted living but has stalled over a variety of complaints from local residents.  The complaints seem to stem from typical NIMBY comments along with “whispers” of discrimination.  Regardless of the comments of the community, the city is certainly putting up sizable requirements for the project to move forward. 

Emeritus Senior Living (NYSE: ESC) recently announced a partnership with online resource center Parentgiving.com to launch the First Annual Parentgivers of the Year Awards. The contest invites families from across the country to nominate a selfless individual who cares for an aging adult, while also caring for their own family.  Emeritus Senior Living and Parentgiving.com will be accepting nominations via the Parentgiving website through January 31, 2010. 

"We are proud to be sponsoring the Parentgivers of the Year Awards and giving back to those that give so generously to seniors,” commented Granger Cobb, president and Co-CEO of Emeritus Corporation. “We know how challenging it can be to care for an aging loved one, and we are glad to have the opportunity to provide support and resources for caregivers, as well as short-term stays at our communities for seniors when their caregivers need a vacation.”

How to Nominate: Nominations can be made at http://www.parentgiving.com/elder-care/cga-contest Simply enter the name of the most selfless and dedicated caregiver you know—yes, you can nominate yourself—and tell us about your caregiving experience. Nominations can be made by the care recipient, friends, family, colleagues and senior care professionals, among others. To be eligible to win, nominated caregivers must be currently caregiving for one or more elderly individuals. All entries will receive a 10% discount on their next purchase at the Parentgiving.com store.

The Parentgivers of the Year Grand Prize Winner will win $3,500 in prizes as follows: up to $2,000 toward a spa getaway, up to $1,000 in respite services, including a 3-day short-term respite stay for their senior loved one at one of 316 Emeritus Senior Living communities nationwide and a $500 gift certificate for the Parentgiving Store. In addition, five Finalists will each receive a $200 gift certificate for the Parentgiving Store and a 2-day short-term respite stay for their senior loved one at one of 316 Emeritus Senior Living communities nationwide.  All Parentgivers of the Year will be selected by a panel of judges that includes Davis, Parentgiving.com co-founder Bob Silver and elder care and health experts.  The selection of the Parentgivers of the Year will be based on the psychological, social, financial and medical issues faced, challenges that have been overcome to provide care, sacrifices made and the impact the care has had on the individual.  Winners will be announced in March 2010 during Women’s History Month.

IgeaCare Solutions, a Canadian based technology provider, announced that it has installed its solution at Cypress Court in Mesa, Arizona. The facility will use pocket paging, an apoloDS reporting system, IgeaTrak call recording and door monitoring tools allowing caregivers to be aware of resident needs at all times.  Administrators at Cypress Court identified a need to replace its existing nurse call system with an easy to use solution that would improve communications between its residents and staff members. The previous nurse call system was failing, and replacement parts and service were no longer available, leaving the system vulnerable to failure.

"We at Cypress Court were interested in providing our residents with a state-of-the-art nurse call system which included features such as voice communication, call recording, and reliable support. We found such a product with IgeaCare,” said Kevin Yirak, Regional Accountant, Cypress Court at Mesa.

The apoloDS server allows the site to incorporate many different notification types, including pagers, email, telephone, cordless phones, etc. This way when a nurse call event occurs, if a Caregiver is working with another resident, there is a back-up solution in place to notify additional staff of the resident’s call for assistance. apoloDS also provides reporting that is necessary to monitor care and staffing levels giving the administrators information they need for proper management of their community.

“IgeaCare is proud to be affiliated with a company that is so dedicated to offering the best possible tools to their staff. The superior care that the residents receive is nothing short of extraordinary, and we are pleased to be a part of that,” said Michael Rochon, CEO, IgeaCare Solutions.

It’s difficult to watch ourselves age. It’s also difficult to watch our parents age. It’s even more difficult when it comes to figuring out how to help them when the time comes. This type of help can be anything from some financial assistance, a few trips to the doctor’s office, or helping them find a long term care facility they – or you – can afford. Perhaps you and your parents should have considered buying some long term care insurance years ago. But what is long term care insurance?

To be affordable, long term care insurance is best purchased as young as possible. Unfortunately, in order to find premiums that are very affordable, we are usually at an age where we feel invincible – old age is too far off to give it any serious consideration.

As we put off buying the insurance, the premiums increase and finally, for too many of us, we learn the hard way that we will be needing some type of long term care and we either find that we have huge deductibles because we’ll need to use our regular health insurance, or worse, we find out we have to pay for everything out of pocket.

Long term care is probably one of the most affordable types of insurance when you think about what you pay vs. What you get. Policies range from basic care for less a year, to a permanent facility.

Policies differ, as with all sorts of insurance, and you can pick and choose options according to what you can afford or according to what you believe you might need. For instance, if Alzheimer’s runs in your family, you may want to get a plan that supports the in depth level of specialized care these patients need. If everyone in your family lives till 105 and drops dead on the golf course, you may decide to purchase a lesser type of coverage.

Different carriers have different types of coverage, different options, and even different health providers. For example, if Uncle John stayed in a particular facility a few years ago and everyone in the family had good things to say about that place, you may want to check out insurance companies that use this facility as a provider.

These kinds of policies can provide an incredible amount of financial help when the time comes. With long term facilities averaging over $500 a day, not many regular insurance plans will cover these for more than a few weeks – no matter what.

Before you go out and buy a policy get more long-term care ins info, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

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