LUTHERAN HOME WILL OPEN RESIDENTIAL CARE SECTIONS

Lutheran Home will open a residential care section, providing the area's elderly a new living option, one mid-point between living on their own and the full care of a nursing home.

The addition, which is adjacent to the current facility, includes 26 beds and a separate dining hall. It will open at the end of August.

Administrator Janis Unger explained that the new section will provide an option for elderly who can't live alone but who don't need the care or want the cost of a nursing home.

"It provides for short-term as well as long-term care that is more affordable than nursing home care," Unger said. "It's a service the community needs and it's in high demand."

She added that the residential care unit occupants can take advantage of the many services available at the existing facility.

"They will have three meals served daily with special dietary needs taken into consideration," Unger said. "They will have laundry and house cleaning services, activities and special medical needs provided for.

"All occupational and physical therapy services will be available."

The addition increases the Lutheran Home's capacity to 264 beds. Another expansion could be in the planning stages as the board of directors is studying the possibility of adding apartment units in the future, Unger said.

The apartment units would add another living option for senior citizens.

"For many elderly who are mobile, this would give them the security of a full-service facility right next door," Unger said.

As the population ages, the demand for these options will increase, she added.

"I get a lot of calls for short-term care individuals whose families are on vacation or people who are recuperating from an operation," she said.