A new nursing home development is going up in the Northeast Arkansas community of Walnut Ridge.
Southern Administrative Services has broken ground on an approximately $11 million development called Green House Cottages of Walnut Ridge. The development comprises a new long-term care campus and the redevelopment of Walnut Ridge Nursing & Rehab, an existing facility.
In total, the development will be $10.9 million.
This marks Southern Administrative Services’ sixth Green House Cottages development. There are four of the facilities in Magnolia, Little Rock, Paragould and Rison with another planned for Mena, which will be called Green House Cottages of Homewood.
The Walnut Ridge facility is expected to open in the spring or summer of 2021. Construction commenced with the groundbreaking on Tuesday, Aug. 25 and will continue through fall 2020 and winter 2021.
According to Southern Administrative Services managing member John Ponthie, the Green House Cottages model represents a new long-term care model. “Elders live in small homes–no more than 12 in any one home. They are cared for by a dedicated staff who often work only in that one home. They have a state-of-the-art kitchen and choices about their food; they have front and back porches and nature around. They keep their own schedules. They have agency and choice and dignity,” he said in a statement
According to a news release, the Walnut Ridge facility will feature four new buildings with private suites for each individual. These four cottages will have 12 rooms each, adding 32,000 square feet to the facility’s footprint. All of the cottages will have a spa and beauty shop, library, living room and state-of-the-art kitchen.
Southern Administrative Services will also be renovated an existing building to have only private rooms.
“Virtually every aspect of this small-home approach to elder care is an improvement on the traditional model the industry has pursued for decades,” John Montgomery, the lead for special projects within Southern Administrative Services, said. “We believe that everyone in Arkansas should have access to the best long-term care that can be designed. That’s why with this announcement in Walnut Ridge we are also declaring our vision that a Green House Cottage facility should be no more than 60 miles from any community and any family in Arkansas.”
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