Senior center expands gym, rehab facilities

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BROWNSTOWN

A 10,000-square-foot addition to a Christian senior living community in Brownstown will provide improved services to people suffering from dementia and memory loss and to those needing therapy and rehabilitation.

On Sept. 30, officials with Hoosier Christian Village showcased those improvements during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at the campus on the southeast side of the county seat.

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The expansion includes a new therapy gym and six rehab-to-home private suites in a 16-bed unit now known as GracePoint.

Administrator Krista Garrison said one of the goals of GracePoint is to help people regain the same quality of life they had before developing an illness, going through surgery or having a fall.

GracePoint also will offer outpatient therapy services to people of all ages, said Tami Hall, director of marketing and admissions at Hoosier Christian Village.

Garrison said the purchase of a new transportation bus also will allow the center to pick up patients who are unable to drive from their homes, bring them to the center for therapy and then take them back home.

She said the van will allow GracePoint to serve the western portion of Jackson County and more.

The next phase of GracePoint will include a new therapy pool, Garrison said.

“We’re really excited about the new therapy pool,” she said. “I think that’s something our community needs and something they have kind of reached out to us about.

“We’re really hoping it can benefit everyone in the community. There’s going to be a treadmill at the bottom of the pool. It’s going to have a lift for those in wheelchairs so they can utilize it. There are two different current flows.”

Therapists have begun receiving aquatic therapy training, and they will be able to provide specialized programs for patients, Garrison said.

Besides the therapy pool, other projects are planned, including a second phase of construction that will add 24/7 assisted living care for residents.

The assisted living center, known as Villa Garden, will be attached to the main building. It will be for residents who need a little bit more assistance than those living in one of the 13 independent living garden homes at the campus, Garrison said.

The former memory care unit in the original 41,959-square-foot building also was converted into a secure area with 22 beds and specially trained staff during the first phase, she said.

That area is known as SafeHaven.

Garrison said the addition of GracePoint is part of a two-year process that has seen a general renovation of Hoosier Christian Village, including resident rooms and bathrooms. Some semi-private rooms became private, and a new canopy was built at the main entrance.

While GracePoint isn’t requiring any new staff, the assisted living center may, Garrison said. Hoosier Christian Village presently has about 125 staff members.

Hall said more than 30 local churches also help Hoosier Christian Village by providing nearly 200 volunteers who help out each week, and that’s the difference between the facility and some other nursing homes.

“We’re really blessed,” Hall said. “Our volunteers have been awesome.”

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gordon Ventruella, senior vice president of marketing and development for Christian Homes Inc., said the additions are not finished at Hoosier Christian Village and for a good reason.

“10,000 Americans are turning 65 a day, and that is going to continue,” he said. “The need is obvious.”

Ventruella said as a faith-based organization that is nonprofit, Christian Homes Inc. is about sending its patients the right message.

“A daily dose of hope,” he said.

Hoosier Christian Village has been serving the Brownstown community for more than 40 years and offers aging residents options, including independent and assisted living and certified 24/7 nursing services for rehabilitation, respite and hospice care.

Christian Homes Inc. has 13 campuses in four states, including ones in Bedford and Crown Point in Indiana.

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