Caledonia Argus

Lutheran Home plans building project

Posted: 9/3/02

The Lutheran Home Association (TLHA) has announced expansion plans for its Caledonia Campus. On Monday, August 26, TLHAís Board of Directors met with TLHAís Executive Leadership Team and representatives from Professional Design Group of Northfield, Minnesota, to review design concepts. For the past seven months these groups have been working with the Caledonia Campusí Expansion Committee comprised of members from the community and TLHAís caregivers to develop innovative services for Caledonia and the surrounding area.

ìThe Lutheran Home is a community facility and I am happy that community representatives Ruth Pongratz, Karen Lorenz, and Harold Thompson are serving on our Planning and Development Committee,î states Lloyd Swalve, Campus Administrator. As the ëBaby Boomersí age, and the population over the age of 85 grows, the needs of older adults are changing, and will continue to change, in the years ahead. In accordance with its mission: ìIn Christís love, TLHA provides for the spiritual, physical, mental and emotional needs of people entrusted to its care,î new services are planned.

TLHA will build a larger dining room, create more private rooms in its current nursing home, improve the areas designated for its team members, and build a new special Memory Care Residence (MCR). The physical design and method of caregiving in this program will be especially created to meet the needs of individuals with Alzheimerís disease and various forms of dementia. As with TLHAís other programs, the care of the soul will be at the heart of these services.

ìThe need for a larger resident dining room remains the top priority for our facility and will receive that emphasis in the grant application being prepared for the health department,î states Lloyd Swalve. He continues, ìWe can do better. Our elderly deserve the increased privacy and dignity that would result from the creation of a special Memory Care Residence.î

ìIt is important to provide these improvements on our campus,î says Michael Klatt,

President and CEO of TLHA. ìThe need to provide an alternative to nursing home care is vital to provide a new special Memory Care Residence is vital to complete a continuum of care approach to services. We have been blessed with a rich strong reputation and community support in the Caledonia community. By responding to the pressing needs to enhance our skilled nursing care, we continue to build upon the foundation that our founder, Sophie Boessling, began in 1898 in Belle Plaine, Minnesota.î

TLHA will conduct focus groups with members of the community during the month of September. The findings of these meetings are valuable as the committee moves forward with its plans. On September 23rd, TLHAís Board of Directors will be reviewing the final recommendations for this proposed project.

The Lutheran Home: Caledonia must submit a moratorium exception proposal to the State of Minnesota and receive permission to begin expansion. A moratorium exception proposal is a request to the State to incur debt to improve or expand an existing skilled care nursing facility. The Caledonia proposal is due in St. Paul on October 4. Approval is necessary from the State of Minnesota before construction can take place. This application process is a very competitive process among nursing homes throughout Minnesota. A limited amount of fund has been appropriated by the Minnesota legislature for construction within nursing homes in the state. Notification of the Caledonia proposal will be sent by the State of Minnesota after January 1, 2003.

If you would like to be a part of the Focus Group planned for September, please contact Lloyd Swalve, Campus Administrator, at 507/725-3351 or Michael Klatt, President and Chief Executive Officer of TLHA, at 1-888-600-8542 (toll free).

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