Centre Care celebrated five years as a nonprofit with a tree cutting on Friday at the site of its planned new skilled nursing facility off Benner Pike in College Township.
Board members cut a fallen tree to ceremoniously clear the way for construction, which is expected to begin in the spring.
When completed in 2020, the new 240-bed facility on Persia Road will replace Centre Crest in Bellefonte, which opened in 1938 and was operated by Centre County until 2013. That year, the county transitioned ownership to Centre Care’s nonprofit board.
Prior to the transition, the nursing home operated at a loss, but since Centre Care took ownership has been in the black every year since.
“When the county transferred ownership to Centre Care, our hope was to have a stable business and a solid plan for the future,” Centre Care’s Board President Betsy Boyer said. “In those five years, we’ve done that and so much more. We’re so proud of how far we’ve come in serving our residents and Centre County.”
With the now 80-year-old Centre Crest usually at maximum capacity with no room to expand, as well as expected costs for maintaining the building and the growing need for nursing care locally, Centre Care saw a need for a new home.
Plans for the new, 135,645 square-foot facility were announced in 2017 and College Township Council approved land development plans in March. In June, Centre Care completed the purchase of 30 acres in College Township.
“At some point, we will all be faced with the decision as to whether we can continue to maintain our own residences or if we need to move in to a facility due to health needs,’ State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, said. ‘The Centre Care board is working to make sure that all seniors have access to quality, affordable care. I congratulate the board on their vision and thank them for their dedication to keeping residents at the center of their decision. This shows that there is a bright future for the residents of Centre County.”
The new facility will offer traditional long-term care along with three specialty care ‘neighborhoods’ that are in high demand: a high acuity neighborhood for patients with complex medical conditions; a memory care neighborhood; and a short-term rehabilitation neighborhood.
The number of private rooms will increase from four to 66 and bedroom sizes will increase by about 100 square feet. The new facility — a central building flanked by two wings — also will offer more programming, enhanced food service and greater personalized care, according to Centre Care.
It will be the largest of only three in Centre County licensed to provide Medicaid care.
In August, Centre Care was approved for a $34 million direct loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the new facility. An additional $6 million is needed, and that will come from savings and a fundraising campaign which begins in November.
An artist’s rendering shows an aerial view of the new Centre Care nursing facility to be constructed off of Benner Pike. Image provided.
