Getting New Life
Trilogy
Health Services plan
considered a boon to downtown
Senior
facility will become
Trilogy’s 75th property
By
Don Ward
Editor
(February 2013) – King’s Daughters’
Health is moving into a new facility on the Madison, Ind., hilltop on
Feb. 23, but it will not leave behind empty buildings in the downtown.
KDH has conveyed for $1 the old hospital building and other structures
to Trilogy Health Services of Louisville, Ky. In a deal that has been
negotiated over the past eight months, the company is scheduled to take
over the property April 1 and after several months of renovation plans
to open a yet-to-be-named senior living facility there.
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Photo
by Don Ward KDH CEO Roger Allman (far right) announces the deal with Trilogy Health Services at a Jan. 25 news conference in Madison, Ind. From left are Madison Mayor Damon Welch, Trilogy regional director Andra Bladen and Trilogy President and CEO Randy Bufford. |
Details of the plan were announced at a Feb. 25 news conference
held at the downtown hospital that included Trilogy officials, KDH CEO
Roger Allman and Madison Mayor Damon Welch.
“I hate to use cliches but this is going to be a win-win for everyone,”
said Trilogy President and CEO Randy Bufford. He outlined the company’s
planned $4 million capital investment to convert the old hospital into
a senior assisted and independent living facility. This will become
Trilogy’s 75th and largest property in the Midwest and 43rd in
Indiana. The company, which operates four locations in Louisville, Ky.,
also owns and operates Thornton Terrace Assisted Living in Hanover,
as well as nearby properties in Scottsburg, Batesville and Lawrenceburg,
Ind.
The plan calls for providing up to 120 jobs at the senior care facility,
which will encompass 50 skilled nursing beds on the first and second
floors, 30 private single assisted living rooms on the third floor and
16 independent one- and two-bedroom apartment style rooms on the fourth
floor. There will be additional space for other services, Bufford said.
“We are excited to be able to repurpose a very historical facility
and take care of seniors in Madison and Jefferson County and nearby
counties.”
In an earlier interview, Allman said it was important that KDH not leave
behind empty buildings “that would sit and become an eyesore in
the downtown historic district. We wanted the in-patient facility to
be re-used. And we wanted it to be re-used by a competent and reputable
company, and we are happy to say today that we have reached that goal.”
Allman said before leaving, KDH would make sure the old buildings would
be clean and well maintained for the new owners.
KDH is keeping 150 employees downtown, while the other 850 full- and
part-time employees move to the new hilltop location. In addition to
retaining ownership of the downtown Physician Building, Busi-ness Center,
Sleep Lab and Cancer Center, KDH will keep its Materials Warehouse on
Milton Street and the EMS Ambulance Services building and the current
Human Resources building on West Street. Community Relations will move
into the H.R. office. KDH will retain ownership of the five-story Parking
Garage and use the first two floors. It will lease to Trilogy the top
three floors.
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Trilogy
Health Services plans to hold The
Career Fair is scheduled from |
Trilogy recently took possession of the former Silvercrest
Hospital in New Albany and is converting it into a senior care facility.
Trilogy also bought and converted a former Norton Healthcare hospital
in southwest Louisville a few years ago. “We like to cluster our
properties, so this acquisition fits well into our plan,” Bufford
said.
He said Trilogy officials had considered building a new facility next
to the new KDH hospital on the hilltop, but this option proved to be
a better plan. “We are excited to be here and our research shows
that there are unmet needs in the county that we can help to address.”
Mayor Welch indicated that the acquisition by Trilogy may lead to the
company partnering with the city in providing even more senior services
in downtown Madison, such as a future Senior Center.
Andra Bladen, a downtown Madison resident and the former executive director
at Thornton Terrace Health Campus, was recently promoted to Divisional
Vice President by Trilogy to oversee 10 properties. She will also oversee
the new Madison facility when it opens. Bladen’s promotion comes
after Thornton Terrace received the company’s top award for customer
satisfaction and quality assurance in the spring and fall of 2012. The
Hanover facility also earned top honors in fall 2012 for employee wellness
and satisfaction.