Senior living community builds $17M rehab center

Senior living community builds $17M rehab center

A rendering of the second-floor concourse of Waterford Rehab Center at Waterford Place in Georgetown Township. Courtesy Sunset Retirement Communities & Services

A senior living community is building a $17-million rehab and assisted living addition that it expects will create roughly 75 jobs.

Sunset Retirement Communities & Services said yesterday that its Waterford Rehab Center is expected to be completed this fall, with an anticipated Aug. 17 move-in date for residents.

The roughly 70,000-square-foot center is a health care addition to the Waterford Place campus in Georgetown Township, at 1725 Port Sheldon St.

Rehab and assisted living center

Construction on Waterford Rehab Center broke ground in February 2014 as a joint project between The Christman Company, which is headquartered in Lansing, and Elzinga & Volkers in Holland.

Progressive AE is the managing architect for the project.

The building will feature 40 short-term private rehab rooms with private baths on the first floor and 24 assisted living units on the second story, ranging from 330 square feet to 725 square feet.

The building will include several other amenities: a rehabilitation wellness pool, bathing spa, beauty salon, expanded kitchen, computer lab for residents, rooftop patio, bank and medical treatment room.

The decision to pursue the project was based on the growing need in the area of meeting the health care needs of an aging population, said Kris Dotinga, director of public relations and advancement, Sunset Retirement Communities & Services.

“With that aging comes additional health care needs that were not being met by area providers,” Dotinga said. “Our mission is to provide quality care to area seniors in a spirit of Christian love, and we felt we were falling short of our calling when we had to turn people away, because we did not have room in our existing communities to give them the care they needed. By providing additional rehab ability and assisted living, all in a state-of-the-art facility, we are fulfilling our mission of service.”

Jobs

Waterford Rehab Center will provide positions for both internal and external candidates.

The center will offer several types of jobs: administration, nurses, certified nursing aides, therapists, dietary staff, maintenance workers and housekeepers.

Employment opportunities for the health care addition are estimated to be posted internally in May, with external positions anticipated to be listed around July, according to Sunset's website.

Steve Zuiderveen, CEO of Sunset Retirement, said the nonprofit is committed to the communities it's located in.

He said the center addresses a local need for short-term rehabilitation and provides “much-needed jobs for community members.”

“A win-win situation for all,” Zuiderveen said.