Winfield care facility adding rooms, new therapy gym

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? Peggy Beaty is a hometown gal. She wants to see the community thrive.

That?s one of the reasons she was part of the driving force that has launched an ambitious expansion project to the Sunrise Terrace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Winfield.

?This is my hometown, and I am pretty passionate about providing the best care possible for residents,? assessed Beaty, who was the first person hired when Sunrise opened its doors in 1975 and has been administrator of the facility since 1990.

Ground was broken Monday on the $1 million-plus project.

Six new private short-term, skilled-care rooms and a therapy gym will be added on to the southeast part of the care center in the three-phase project, which Beaty hopes is completed this coming fall.

The administrator said construction was preceded by about three years of planning. ?We are looking at our future and the vitality of the nursing home, especially with the baby boomers advancing in age. We have been very successful with short-term care,? she noted. ?We needed more (skilled-care) rooms and a larger gym. Everybody wants a private room and we have to be ready for future needs.?

The project will be divided into three phases. Phase I is the addition of a new laundry room; phase II includes remodeling the current laundry room area; and the final phase is the addition of the six short-term skilled care rooms and a therapy gym.

A dining and living room for dementia patients will occupy the space currently housing the laundry room.

Naturally, Beaty is excited about the project, terming the new therapy gym the best part. ?Currently, our therapy gym can handle one person; now six people will be able to have therapy at the same time. The addition of six private rooms will give us a total of 30 private rooms,? said Beaty. ?I?m just very excited about this. We?ve been talking about it for so long. I can?t wait until it is done.

?For a small community, the expansion is a good thing because that way, people don?t have to leave the community,? she said.

Sunrise Terrace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is licensed as a 50-bed facility, and Beaty said the addition would not increase the amount of beds or staff. ?We will be making some double rooms into single rooms,? she explained. ?Right now, we have 13 private rooms, and they are full all the time.?

The administrator said the facility attracts residents from a 35-mile radius. ?We don?t just accept Winfield residents. We are happy to take residents from anywhere, and I think we have a very good reputation.?

Point Builders, of Cedar Rapids, is the general contractor for the construction project.