NEWPORT – Friday, June 28 marks the anticipated ribbon cutting and public unveiling of River Mountain Village Advanced Care.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 10 a.m., and public tours will follow until 3 p.m. Newport Hospital and Health Services staff and administration are excited to present the new building to the public who made it possible.

River Mountain Village Advanced Care was supported by a facility expansion bond approval by Public Hospital District No. 1 voters via special election April 2016). The approved UTGO $10M bond has a 20 year term. Recent estimates, which include completion of the 4th neighborhood, place the overall budget around $12.2M, or approximately $260 per square foot. The District is funding anything beyond the original $10M bond with cash reserves.

Initially, the approximately 54,000 square foot facility will accommodate 54 residents, with an additional neighborhood of 18-beds ready for expansion. NHHS anticipates the growing need for residential care and wanted the ability to expand. The same services will be offered “in-home” for residents needing advanced, or “enhanced,” levels of care.

Consumer demand for more private space, increased regulatory costs for long term care services, and limited availability for Medicaid clients spurred the District to find a solution that was supported with the community’s help. As early as 2014, NHHS started the conversation about building a new building to replace the current nursing home (long term care). The nursing home opened in 1967 and though NHHS has maintained it well for nearly 50 years, it no longer meets community needs. Technically, there is nothing wrong with the current facility; however, existing building would not meet new building codes for nursing home or assisted living facilities. So, NHHS looked at an entirely new model of care for those residents with greater daily needs (than those in more independent assisted living).

All long term care residents are expected to move into the new facility. The services provided today in long term care are similar to services provided in an assisted living facility that is designed and staffed to treat residents in need of a higher level of care. Pending final approval and State contract, residents will move in to River Mountain Village Advanced Care by Aug. 1.

The reasons for building an advanced care assisted living facility as opposed to a new nursing home are:

1) Over the last 15 years, there has been a shift in demand from nursing home to assisted living care; and

2) Nursing home services cost more than assisted living care. Assisted living facilities now offer similar care to nursing homes of thirty years ago, at a lower cost. It is one of the reasons why the number of nursing home beds in the state has decreased over the past 15 years: 70 closures, reducing total beds from 29,000 to less than 21,000 from 1998 to 2012.