In a pilot project designed to find alternative housing options for long-term nursing home patients, the Clatsop Care Center Health District is proposing to build a $7.2 million multi-unit residential-care campus for up to 40 patients on 1.7 acres in the Mill Pond Village in Astoria.
The campus would include a cluster of three single-story duplexes and one two-story four-plex. Each dwelling would house four patients. Nursing staff would be on-site around the clock to provide care for each patient.
CCCHD, which owns and operates a nursing home and an assisted-living facility in Astoria, has received the go-ahead from the state to perform a study to determine the financial feasibility of the project, said Anita Schacher, the health district’s chief executive officer.
Project is state’s first of its kind
Schacher said the project is designed to address the growing calls from medical professionals in the geriatrics field to find housing options, other than nursing homes, for patients who require long-term (intermediate) care.
After some reluctance, Schacher said state officials have become enthusiastic about CCCHD’s proposal, which would be the first of its kind in Oregon.
"No one else has done this type of project," Schacher told the Coast River Business Journal. "There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think we can do it."
Schacher said the health district, which has been working on the proposal for at least six months, already has secured an agreement to purchase the property for $1,050,000, contingent upon the project receiving final approval. The property, located at Marine Drive and 23rd Street near the Gateway Village, is currently owned by Astor Venture, LLC.
The estimated cost of the project is $7.2 million, although Schacher said she is hoping to reduce the overall cost to $6.5 million.
The firm of LRS Architects of Portland is the architect for the project. Marathon Development Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., is the project’s developer.
Should the project go through, the district would be eligible for $1.5 million in federal funds to pay for part of the construction costs. The balance of the project’s costs would come from the district’s operations.
The Bank of the Pacific has agreed to provide the publicly operated health district with a 30-year loan for the remaining costs for the project.
Schacher said the project’s costs would be paid through revenues from the district’s operations. She emphasized that no tax dollars would be used for the project.
State emphasizes alternatives to nursing homes
CCCHD’s proposal directly addresses Oregon’s efforts to identify alternatives to nursing homes for long-term care patients. "On the Move in Oregon" offers a variety of financial and other support to qualified nursing home patients who are receiving Medicaid benefits if they move into a home, apartment or other facility with four or fewer residents.
Schacher said state officials initially wanted the health district to build foster care homes that would have required additional staff, which would have added significantly to the costs.
However, after studying the local agency’s current proposal, Schacher said "they were excited about it."
The residential care campus would require between 30 and 45 staff, many of them new hires, she said.
Under state guidelines, the numbers of nursing home patients eligible to move into the residential facility would include 24 Alzheimer patients, eight patients with brain trauma and eight bariatric (obese) patients. Between 30 and 45 staff would be on-site to provide round-the-clock care for the patients, Schacher said.
Although CCCHD would have priority to relocate its patients to the new housing, any unfilled spots could go to non-residents who otherwise qualify under the state guidelines.
Schacher said that there are some 20 patients in the health district’s Care Center who would qualify for relocation.
CCCHD was formed by voters in Clatsop County in the late 1970s to acquire the former Columbia Hospital (now called Clatsop Care Center) in Astoria for use as a care facility to serve intermediate-and skilled-care patients. The district also owns and operates the Clatsop Retirement Village, an assisted- living facility, also in Astoria.