Passavant to dedicate Abundant Life Center
ZELIENOPLE — Passavant Retirement Community this week will celebrate the completion of an expansion project almost three years in the making.
The $57 million renovation and expansion to the retirement community is nearly complete and will be unveiled to the public Wednesday.
The renovation entailed building a 223,767-square-foot building called the Abundant Life Center. It will include 20 independent apartments, 34 personal care apartments 102 nursing beds and the community's “Main Street” area, which includes restaurant and recreation areas.
The new structure replaces Olde Main, the current building which eventually will be torn down, said David Fenoglietto, Lutheran SeniorLife president and executive director.
“Our new Abundant Life Center enables older adults to live a rich life. We designed a contemporary living setting so that older adults can live life to their fullest,” Fenoglietto said.
Along with the new building, the 42-acre campus' name will change to Lutheran SeniorLife Passavant Community.
The decision to build was made in part because Olde Main, which was built 107 years ago, needed repairs and building a new structure gave Lutheran SeniorLife an opportunity to construct a facility with a different design.
Rather than having nursing patients housed in wings with shared rooms, like a typical hospital setup, they have private bedrooms that are grouped into households to promote social interaction and the feeling of a community. The layout is unique among the retirement communities in the region, Fenoglietto said.
“We think it's one of a kind for Western Pennsylvania, it sets a new watermark,” he said.
The design for the building was conceived by architects based on feedback from residents, family members of residents and staff members on how the community could work better, he said.For nursing care, each household holds six rooms, most of which are private, and each household has its own kitchen, shared living areas and dedicated staff.Though Passavant had originally planned a June move-in date, it was postponed due to unspecified issues with the completion of the building and obtaining the licenses for occupancy, Laura Roy, Passavant executive director, said.Roy said the administration hopes the building will be ready in about eight months.Once the residents have moved, the staff will take about a month to sell or donate all leftover furnishings and materials from the existing building. It then will be demolished, which will take about three months, she said.The land under Olde Main will be converted into a combination of green space, parking and new condos facing Culvert Street. Construction will begin on the condos once the demolition of Olde Main is complete.Passavant plans to increase its nursing staff by 10 for the new building, but there will be not be an increase in the number of residents, as most of the residents of the new building will be moving there from Olde Main, Roy said.The new household setup in the building means that there will be a “realignment of positions” in the staff. Some former food service workers will become household assistants, a person who supports the household with both dining and housekeeping facilities, Roy said.Also built into the household model are personalization options for each room including shelves in the nursing rooms and a glass display case in the hall next to the door. The personal displays will give the nursing areas more personality, said Ann Mutmansky, director of marketing and admissions.“This is a reminder that this is not a hip replacement or a medication or a number, they are a person with a past and a future,” Mutmansky said.
The Main Street area will include an indoor swimming pool, bistro, ice cream shop, aerobics room, music room, library and model train room. There is also a media room with a green screen where residents can record programs to be broadcast on the Passavant-only television network.The building also features stained-glass windows brought over from Olde Main, wood taken from oak trees that were torn down on the property and an iron door frame custom made by Passavant resident Bill Fugate. He has a metal shop he set up in an old garage on the campus and offered to do something special to be put in the new building, Mutmansky said.The rates for the new living spaces will increase once residents move in. The apartment prices vary and are based on square footage and accommodations. Nursing beds are billed by the day and private rooms cost more than semiprivate rooms.In the current building, a private room is $304 a day, while in the new building that rate will increase to $365 a day.Passavant typically increases its rates annually, though the increases for moving into a new building are more substantial, Roy said.No residents are ever asked to leave a Luthern SeniorLife facility for inability to pay, a policy called Benevolent Care. Last year, residents unable to pay received more than $500,000 in aid and they also accept Medicaid and Medicare, Roy said.“Our commitment to our residents that live here is that if they outlive their resources we never ask them to leave,” she said.
<b>Name: </b>Abundant Life Center at Lutheran SeniorLife Passavant Community<b>Address: </b>401 S. Main St., Zelienople<b>Cost: </b>$57 million<b>Size: </b>223,767 square feet<b>Started: </b>September 2011<b>Residents: </b>156<b>Employees: </b>320<b>Open house: </b>3 p.m. Wednesday
