MEETING DEMAND: AGING AMERICANS TRY TO FIND A PLACE TO RETIRE

America is getting grayer all the time, and area retirement homes are expanding to meet the increased demand for their services.

Latest statistics show more than 8,500 Cape Girardeau County residents are over age 65, with another 3,000 in the 55-64 range. According to the Missouri Department of Health, there are more than 750,000 elderly Missouri residents.

With aging baby boomers and longer life expectancies, those numbers are only going to go up.

By the year 2030, 28 percent of the U.S. population will be over 60, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lutheran Home, 2825 Bloomfield Road, and Chateau Girardeau, 3120 Independence, have been preparing for the graying of America for several years, and are recognized throughout the region as full-level retirement centers.

The Lutheran Home, founded in 1972, recently completed an expansion project that added 62 new residential beds, in a new freestanding building on the campus, said Janice Unger, administrator. The home is currently looking at adding more duplex living quarters.

Chateau Girardeau, which opened in 1979, is still in the process of an expansion that will add a total of 37 two-bedroom cottages to its complex.

In addition, a number of nursing homes in Cape Girardeau County have expanded their buildings and services in recent years.

Four levels of retirement

Both the Lutheran Home and Chateau Girardeau offer four levels of retirement -- independent living (split into housing and apartments), assisted living and skilled care -- under the "aging in place" concept. By providing all levels, retirement homes offer residents certainty they will be cared for as they grow older.

The Lutheran Home recently was selected as one of four facilities in the state to participate in a pilot monitoring program, sponsored by the Missouri Division of Aging, to gather information on "aging in place."

The Lutheran Home places great emphasis on the concept of "aging in place" for the senior adults it serves, Unger said.

"Some residents may choose to live independently," Unger said. "We have apartments and duplexes which serve these needs."

The Lutheran Home opened as 60-bed unit. An addition came in the mid-1970s, with another 60 beds. Additional expansions in the 1980s put the totals of rooms at 248. Since then, apartment and duplex quarters have been added.

"We provide a lot of amenities for people here," added Unger. Those include fitness classes, transportation services, beauty/barber shop services, adult day care and a specialized Alzheimer's unit.

"Once in a while we'll take some of the residents on a shopping trip to the metropolitan St. Louis area," Unger said.

The Lutheran Home is among the top 15 employers in Cape Girardeau, with more than 450 employees.

Chateau Girardeau, which has expanded greatly from its start, has opened 34 of its 37 planned cottages to go along with other services, according to administrator Bob Strickland.

"The cottages have been a part of the plan for our full-service continuing care retirement community since planning started in 1983," he said.

The cottage project completes the four levels of living that had been planned for the facility from the start.

Chateau Girardeau currently employs 170 staff members, who serve more than 250 residents. The facility is owned and operated by Cape Retirement Community Inc., a local non-denominational, not-for-profit corporation headed by a 13-member board of directors.

Chateau Girardeau received national accreditation by the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission of Washington, D.C., in 1992, and is one of only 112 accredited retirement communities in the nation.

The center offers completely independent living, said Strickland. The Medicare-approved health center and the assisted living center are available if residents need more assistance and care later in their lives, regardless of their financial status.