Wesley Village Opens First Small Home in Kentucky

Governor Steve Beshear and other dignitaries will gather with invited guests to celebrate a breakthrough in senior long-term health – Kentucky’s first Small Home for Memory Care at Wesley Village Senior Living Community in Wilmore, Ky.

The gala opening at 3 p.m. on September 28 will feature remarks by Beshear; Kentucky United Methodist Bishop Lindsey Davis; Wesley Village President/CEO Glenda Creech; and Wesley Village Board Chair Judge John Adams.

UK Director of Opera, Dr. Everett McCorvey, who performed at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, will sing “My Old Kentucky Home.”

Based on Dr. Bill Thomas’s “Green House” principles first put into practice in 2003 at the United Methodist Homes in Tupelo, Miss. – and copied with great success in 22 other states – Wesley Village’s Small Home is setting a new standard of licensed Nursing Home Care for the commonwealth.

What is a Small Home? Designed especially for those with Alzheimer’s disease, a Small Home brings memory care into all the comforts of a 9,000 sq. ft. home – with living room, hearth, dining area and kitchen being central to 10 private bedrooms and bathrooms, all on one level within short walking distance of each other. An inviting therapeutic garden made possible by The Good Samaritan Foundation lies just outside the front door. Only 10 residents live in the Small Home resulting in an excellent 5:1 resident-to-direct care staff ratio.

The personal preferences of residents, not institutional schedules, drive the day. When to wake up/go to bed, when to eat, what to eat, when to be outside, when to stay inside, etc. are all freedoms and choices restored to residents in this setting. “Seniors deserve the very best we can provide,” says Creech who has worked in senior long-term health care for close to 35 years. “And this [Small Home] represents the very best there is!”

Other Wesley Village/Small Home facts and figures:
• The cost of care in Wesley Village’s new Small Home is approximately the same (or less) when compared to other area nursing homes.
• Wesley Village first opened its doors in 1995 and is now home to 145 seniors living in 77 independent patio homes, 40 apartments for licensed personal and nursing home care – plus the 10 new residents in the Small Home.
• Wesley Village is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization affiliated with United Methodist Churches of Kentucky.
• The Small Home was built by Lexington’s Atchison-Heller Construction at a cost of approximately $1.5 million. Total project cost including custom design, furnishings and infrastructure: $2.5 million – all made possible by the generous donations of Wesley Village supporters.
• Each bedroom in the Small Home is equipped with a state-of-the-art mobility lift system provided by The Good Samaritan Foundation, Inc., a ministry of the Kentucky Annual Conference of United Methodist Churches.
• Wesley Village future plans call for a cul-de-sac of six Small Homes to care for an additional 60 residents in need of long-term health and memory care.

For more information on the new Small Home, please call Alan Beuscher, V.P. for Community Relations at (859) 509-6893 or email at abeuscher@wvillage.org.
 

You can read more about the Small Home here.