A plan for a new senior care facility in Glenwood, Iowa seems to have Governor Terry Branstad’s approval. The governor joined community leaders Tuesday afternoon touring a cottage on the state-owned Glenwood Resource Center where local leaders want to relocate residents from the community’s aging long-term care facility, Glen Haven.
Phil Warren, project manager of what is tentatively called Glen Haven Village, says the group has signed leases with the state for seven group houses that had been underutilized. They will spend up to $3 million renovating them into units that can each house up to 12 residents.
“These will be removed,” Warren said walking through a walled off room. “We will put a wall down the center.”
Glen Haven opened in the 1960’s. It has not seen any major renovations since. The facility, which houses about 70 residents, offers few private rooms, and even fewer private bathrooms. Administrator Deborah Clark says both the building and the institutional model of care it provides are outdated.
“It's very, very outdated and tired. That's how I put it,” Clark said. “There'll be 10-12 residents to [each new] house. And you're driving up to a house like what you've lived in your whole life.”
The homes will have common spaces with kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms. Residents will also have access to private bathrooms.
Warren said the 50-year deal to share the property with the state would also use laundry, maintenance, and meal services from the resource center.
The group is still fundraising, with the help of a $500,000 matching grant. Construction could begin by the fall. Click here for more information.
