The Affordable Care Act called for, in addition to many new reforms, increased continuum of care from America’s health care providers. Health systems have taken to this call to action, increasingly affiliating with other health systems or health care businesses to add a wide variety of services to their portfolios. Concerning long-term care, Rochester, Minnesota may prove to be the best example of this new type of integrated senior/medical care in the country.
Fueled in large part by a 20-year, $5 billion expansion plan to Mayo Clinic, three senior housing projects are scheduled for construction or have already broken ground in the county.
The Bluffs of Lake City, a $13.4 million project that will have 67 units at $200,000 per unit, including independent and assisted living apartments and a memory care wing, is set to break ground later this month. The Bluffs will be connected to an existing care center owned by Mayo Clinic Health System. Susan Farr, VP of business development for Ebenezer Management Services, which will manage the community, said that the affiliation with the Mayo Clinic would bring a full continuum of care to Lake City.
Madonna Towers of Rochester, Minnesota is planning to develop two new senior care properties this fall: a new $2.7 million, 16-unit (or $168,750 per unit) memory care facility on its campus, called A Garden House, and an $8 million (or $160,000 per unit) senior care facility in Byron, Minnesota. The latter property will include 20 independent living apartments, 16 assisted living units and 14 memory care units on five acres. Both properties are expected to begin construction this fall and ready to open next fall. Madonna CEO Mark Noble is quoted as saying “Benedictine Health believes Rochester and southeast Minnesota are still very promising for development.” They aren’t the first to see this opportunity, as the city is expecting to see upwards of 32,000 seniors flock to Rochester to be near the top notch care of Mayo Clinic.
In addition to providing a continuum of care, large medical centers are centers of research and innovation, whose expertise and innovative ideas can also be used to improve the quality of care in senior living. For example, Mayo Clinic along with Minneapolis-based Hunhu Healthcare combined to create a new interactive “pendant” which when worn will monitor falls, track movement and provide communication. This sort of technology is a great selling point to families who want to be assured that their loved ones will receive accountable, quality care, which would be available at Mayo Clinic-affiliated senior residences.
