Portland nursing home to shutter its doors, move residents to new facility

After nearly a half century of operation, a Portland nursing home will shut its doors next week, but the residents aren't going far.

St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence, a post-acute care facility owned by MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, is being replaced by a more modern facility, Fallbrook Commons. All residents of St. Joseph's, at 1133 Washington Ave., will move to Fallbrook, which is about a mile away at 91 Merrymeeting Drive.

Employees of St. Joseph's are making the move, too. The nursing home will close its doors for good on Sept. 20.

Founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in 1975, St. Joseph's was acquired by MaineHealth in 2017 and since then has operated as a subsidiary of Maine Med in Portland.

The medical center "made significant investments to maintain operations, enhance the quality of care and maximize the facility’s use during its final years," according to a MaineHealth news release.

“The decision to acquire and invest in this critical community resource was mutually beneficial to St. Joseph’s, MHMMC and the Portland community,” said Britt Crewse, president of MaineHealth’s Southern Region, which includes St. Joseph’s and MHMMC.

“We knew at that time that the facility would eventually require replacement, so we worked to build an appropriate transition plan that would ensure the continuation of care for residents and also look out for our care team.”

Fallbrook Commons is a joint venture development between North Country Associates LLC and Sandy River Co., both Maine-based companies that have built and operated senior care centers for decades.

The new facility has 102 beds with dedicated areas for nursing-home-level memory care, short-term skilled nursing care and traditional long-term care nursing. Fallbrook Commons is adjacent to the Fallbrook Woods assisted living center in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to transition our residents and their care plans to Fallbrook Commons. The facility will offer a greatly enhanced and more contemporary residential and post-acute care experience," said Dr. Richard Marino, medical director of MaineHealth Geriatrics Portland.

"It is also important that the team from St. Joseph’s will transfer over because continuity of the professionals who care for this population is clinically beneficial.”

Across Maine and the United States, long-term care centers are closing due to low reimbursement and staffing shortages, a trend that was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, nine nursing homes have closed in Maine and the state has lost approximately 1,200 beds.