New York City is renowned for its lack of sufficient senior living options. New York elder law attorneys know that competition is often intense for available spots in some of the better long-term care facilities. That competition will only grow more intense in the coming years as the number of available rooms drop and demand from the senior community increases. If more facilities aren’t built, it will likely become even more difficult to access the highest quality elder living options, particular those that prioritize senior quality of life. As the chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging noted, “What used to work is no longer an option. We’re moving from being a care society to one where we take self-responsibility.”
Many more are growing aware of the looming housing crisis and are working to expand New York elder care options. For example, on Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported on a new, ground-breaking nursing home that is set to be constructed on the city’s Upper West Side. Those involved in the project explained that a 24-story Jewish Home Lifecare nursing home will be built at 97th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus. It will accommodate 288 total residents.
Those involved in the project explain that the new facility is intended to offer original designs and unique modes of staffing. It seeks to do away with the old-fashioned (and often despised) institutional approach with shared rooms and long corridors. Instead, the facility is being built to feel more like regular homes with private rooms clustered in small, 12-room pods. The staffing will also be different than the norm. Under the current plan the same two nursing assistance will be assigned to each apartment cluster. Those caregivers will go beyond tasks done in regular homes and instead also help with cooking, light housekeeping, and the facilitation of recreational activities.
This pioneering project has been in the works for years. Those involved have long wanted to build a facility with this new model, however it has been a challenge to marshal the appropriate resources to actually move ahead with the space-intensive design in the high-rise environment. However, things now appear to be in green-light mode. The $250 million project is set to break ground in February of 2013 with move-ins slated for the Spring of 2017. One New York elder law attorney explained that this project is clearly the area’s most ambitious new senior housing development. He noted that is comes at a precipitous time considering the need for such spaces to accommodate aging Baby Boomers.
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