Construction crews work on relocating the utility lines at Sugar Creek Rest nursing home. A new parking lot area also is part of the work to be done before the addition to the building can begin. The new building will have more private rooms and bathrooms.

WORTHINGTON, Armstrong Co. — Sugar Creek Rest is undergoing major renovations that will add to the privacy and comfort of its residents.

The nursing home, one of 10 owned by Quality Life Services, has started a $12.5 million project that is estimated to take two years to complete.

Steven Tack, co-owner of Quality Life Services, said the plan is to renovate all 10 nursing homes, starting with Sugar Creek Rest.

“We’re trying to make sure that we’re both meeting the needs of the residents currently and the residents for the future,” Tack said.

The home has 53 semiprivate rooms and eight private rooms, making for 114 beds. An addition will be built to increase the number of private rooms and bathrooms.

While Tack said the number of private rooms has not yet been determined, the addition is an important part of the renovations.

“What we find the two biggest issues that we get asked by potential residents and families is, ‘Can I have my own room,’ and, ‘Can I have my own bathroom?’” Tack said.

The addition will be a place for the residents to stay when the rooms in the current building are renovated.

Remodeling to the upstairs office space has already begun. Storage areas and meeting spaces are in the process of being created.

Quality Life Services plans to add a chapel, a physician’s office, a gift shop and additional dining options into the first floor of its main building.

“Because folks can’t get out, you want to bring as much of a community as you can onto the campus,” Tack said.

There also will be a short-stay rehabilitation unit for people who were recently discharged from the hospital and are there to focus on their therapy so they can return home.

“As folks get discharged from hospitals quicker and quicker and are anxious to get home, that need for short-stay rehabilitation becomes bigger and bigger,” Tack said.

Before the addition is built, utility lines need to be relocated and a parking lot addition needs to be created.

Both are in the process of being done by Lenken Construction Services, which is completing the total project for $11 million. Architectural and engineering fees bring the estimated cost to about $12.5 million.

Walt Tack of Lenken Construction said the parking lot will be done by Monday. He also said the addition will be done by spring of 2017 and the project should be completed by midsummer of 2018.

Steven Tack said there will likely be additional employees once the renovations are complete, but no specific number is planned.

Employees are excited about the changes.

“I think it’s definitely going to enhance the residents’ quality of life that are living here,” said Lisa Dailey, Sugar Creek Rest admissions director.

Director of Nursing Sheila Hartle agreed.

“I think that’s our top priority, to make their quality of life better,” she said. “It’s very exciting, what we’re going to have.”