St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence unveils plans for new facility in Portland

Courtesy / Gawron Turgeon Architects An artist's rendering shows the entrance of the Fallbrook Care Center that's being proposed by Saint Joseph's Rehabilitation and Residence to become part of a campus with Fallbrook Woods, an assisted-living memory-care center located on 17 acres in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood.

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By James McCarthy

St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence, a Portland-based provider of skilled nursing and long-term care services, unveiled plans for a new facility to meet the health care needs of older adults.

The facility, which will be known as Fallbrook Care Center, will become part of a campus with Fallbrook Woods, an assisted-living memory-care center located on 17 acres in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood. It will be developed under an agreement between Sandy River Co. and North Country Associates, and will be operated by North Country Associates.

Fallbrook Care Center, pending construction schedules and regulatory approvals, is projected to open during the summer of 2021. The facility is expected to have 84 licensed beds, but could be as many as 90, and will be licensed to admit both Medicare and Medicaid (MaineCare) patients.

“A new facility that allows staff to meet the dynamic needs of patients and residents will be a landmark in our history of caring for older adults and upholding and respecting the dignity of all persons,” Peggy Farrington, CEO of St. Joseph’s, said in a news release. “The agreements will allow patients and residents to be served at a time when many other organizations are challenged to remain open.”

In 2017 The Archdiocese of Portland transferred St. Joseph’s to Maine Medical Center as a wholly owned subsidiary. The move provided St. Joseph’s with access to a variety of capital, workforce and health services resources that allowed it to continue operations and evaluate options to sustainably serve the community.

“St. Joseph’s has long been an important asset in the Portland community that provides a critically important range of care services for a particularly vulnerable segment of the older adult patient population,” said Dr. Heidi Wierman, MMC’s division director of geriatrics, which oversees medical services at St. Joseph’s. “Since MMC started working more closely with St. Joseph’s, we’ve seen quality and service indicators improve, and we are looking forward to continuing that trend.”

Portland-based Sandy River Co. will co-own the new facility and will oversee its operation in conjunction with co-owner North Country Associates, a Lewiston-based operator and manager of care centers for older adults throughout the state.

As part of the campus with Fallbrook Woods, an assisted-living memory-care center located at 60 Merrymeeting Drive in Portland, the new facility will feature private rooms organized into “neighborhoods” with designated skilled care and rehabilitation units — which is considered a best practice for long-term and rehabilitation care facilities. The design is intended to create a residential feeling with shared kitchens as well as living and dining spaces. The facility will also feature a rehab gym and a focus on wellness and social engagement.

“Sandy River Co. and North Country Associates are excited to offer the next generation of senior care centers in Maine,” said Daniel Maguire, managing partner at Sandy River Co. “We are designing Fallbrook Care Center for the baby boomer generation and beyond. Maine is considered the oldest state in the country and our vision is to recreate nursing care centers that move away from a medical model with a high number of shared rooms and a highly structured care delivery model to one that puts the resident at the center of the services we provide and one that feels as much like living at home as possible while still being part of a caring community.”

St. Joseph’s and Maine Medical Center are part of MaineHealth, a Maine-based nonprofit health care system that has an established relationship with Sandy River and North Country for the development of a new care facility at Southern Maine Health Care’s Sanford campus.