Lafayette

Good Samaritan Center converting to assisted living

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

LAFAYETTE -- The Good Samaritan Center in Lafayette plans to change the facility from a 40-bed skilled nursing center to a 23-unit assisted-living center.

"The amount of renovation will not be too extensive, because it is designed for a certain level of assisted living already, in that there are already private bathrooms," said Mark Dickerson, Director of Communications Management for the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

Residents will be moved to areas where construction is not taking place. Those requiring additional help in a skilled nursing center will be relocated, Dickerson said.

Under an assisted-living program, residents have an apartment with a kitchen and access to the nursing staff.

"The Good Samaritan Society is moving toward a continuum of care and people are spending less time in skilled nursing facilities," Dickerson said. "People want their independence and tend to be healthier. This facility will provide a different level of care for Lafayette."

Staff members have the option of staying or transferring to other Good Samaritan Centers. "If they choose not to stay, we will provide relocation assistance to them, including resume services, references, and reimbursement of relocation expenses," Dickerson said.

Cooking areas will be added to rooms, and nursing stations will be remodeled into more common areas. The current administrator, who also manages the Good Samaritan Center in Winthrop, will remain on staff after the project is completed.

"The overall goal is to create a community that will provide interaction between the residents," Dickerson said.

Construction will take approximately four to six months. Dickerson estimates that at least a dozen residents will stay after the project is complete.

Current residents who must relocate to a skilled nursing facility will receive help as much as possible from staff in finding a new residence.

"At the state level, there is an abundance of empty beds in skilled nursing facilities, and the state has limited the construction or expansion of existing facilities," Dickerson said. "There is a greater demand for assisted living facilities, however, so the timing is right."

The Lafayette facility was built in 1959. It underwent extensive renovation in 1994 when the private bathrooms were added.