Boyne Care Holdings shifts focus to Phase 2 of aging-in-place strategy

Residents in the Boyne region are being asked for their thoughts on a seniors' assisted housing project for the area.
    
With the expansion and renovation of Carman's Boyne Lodge personal care home complete, Boyne Care Holdings Inc. is now turning its attention to the next phase in its aging-in-place campus. Spokesperson, Tyler King, says they've issued a survey in the first step in this process. 

"What we're looking for from people is information on what kind of amenities they'd like to see within the assisted living facility to help with the planning for that process and also to see the need and how that facility is going to take shape, depending on the demand shown," explained King. "That will also indicate how many rooms we'll be looking at within the facility and then we'll be able to continue with our planning and eventually, construction if everything goes according to plan."

In the survey, people will be able to provide guidance and information that is required to plan for such a project. 

"Some of the information we're looking for is, what people are willing to spend per month on a package, what kind of room type they're looking at, whether it be one bedroom, two bedroom. studio, and the kinds of package services they're looking for. Are they looking for laundry in the room? Are they looking for housekeeping services, for example, once a week? Do they want to see a community space within the building? There's lots of things for everybody to take a look at in the survey and answer what kind of amenities they're looking for," added King.

He explained, an assisted living facility is typically for individuals who need some assistance, like home care, that allows them to have that in the facility. 

"If it's a couple, for example, one person might not need any care at all, but the other person may need some home care," said King. "It allows them to be together in the facility, and as one individual may progress within the facility into the personal care home, for example, the other person could stay in assisted living. They're still in the same connected building and allows for easy access and visitation. So, it's nice to be able to have multiple services within one building without having to go outside. 

Keeping couples close together within community is the goal in aging-in-place campuses and especially with what Boyne Care Holdings is trying to do."

Initially, the first project would be located in Carman and would later act as the hub serving future builds in Elm Creek, Miami, St. Claude and Roland.

"That's our hub and spoke model that we we've always been talking about, we'd like to be able to do that," said King. "What it allows us to do is to be able to save some of the costs and make these facilities more feasible in the smaller centers and be able to look at the amenities that are needed in each of those as well. We are trying to create a sense of community in all of these projects as well, and then ensure that we're meeting the needs of what everybody needs in their center."

King explained, Boyne Care Holdings Inc. will take the information gleaned from the survey and use it to shape what such a facility would look like and develop a final budget for the project. 

Paper surveys can be picked up at any of the region's municipal offices or downloaded here. Click here to fill out it out online. Submissions will be accepted until the end of November.