Modern Makeover
BUTLER TWP — Investment 360, the Lakewood, N.J., firm that bought Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center last May, soon will start significant renovations on the facility.
Tricia Kradel, administrator of the formerly county-owned home in Butler Township, said plans should be finalized by the end of spring and work could start this summer.
David Herskowitz, who works for Investment 360 and is vice president of operations and assistant director at Sunnyview, said the company still is deciding among bids from contractors. He did not give an estimated cost of the project, but he said it will be large.
“They are definitely investing,” Kradel said of the owners. “They believe in what they do.”
Investment 360 owns a number of homes in different markets around the country.
Kradel said the project will be split into two or three phases.
The first phase will renovate the entire first floor with the goal of making the main lobby the hub of the building.
Resident activities will be focused there, and all administrative offices will be moved to that area.
Heidi Coyle, the home's director of nursing, said the biggest change will be moving the rehabilitation department, which is inside the main entrance, to the other side of the building.
It will then be expanded and updated to resemble more of a typical gym and fitness area.
Herskowitz added the company uses as many objects — chairs, beds and steps — in the department as possible to more closely mirror the daily activities short-term rehabilitation residents will encounter when they return home.He noted one of the company's homes uses a Mini Cooper in its rehab department so residents can practice getting in and out of a car.The rest of the first phase will include remodeling all first floor resident rooms and hallways and buying new furniture.“I've been in their other homes, and they definitely take it to another level,” Coyle said.“It's going to be beautiful here.”She described the look as more modern.Herskowitz said the company's idea is to create a new-home feeling for the residents. The approach is meant to help transition to the Baby Boomer generation, which is the next wave of nursing home residents.That generation also expects more technology, and the home's amenities will reflect that.Coyle added Sunnyview is in the final stages of fully implementing a new electronic medical records system.Herskowitz said other changes include restaurant-style dining and more choices for residents.Kradel said the remaining work will focus on the other floors.Along with renovating the rest of the resident rooms, dining rooms and nurse stations will receive a face-lift.“It will be a total upgrade to all the resident care areas,” Kradel said.Herskowitz said once renovations are done, with each phase taking several months, the company will look to add more services based on community needs.The last upgrade in 2008 was the addition of the rehabilitation department and the new Alzheimer's unit. Any other major renovations occurred many years before that.
