Jewish Senior Life Campus Transformation Embraces Green House Concept

Jewish Senior Life is in the midst of an $83 million campus transformation that it hopes will help residents lead more meaningful lives.

In September 2017, JSL opened nine new Green House dwellings, each home to 12 long-term care residents. Built in conjunction with The Green House Project, a nationally accredited organization representing a new standard in long-term care, Jewish Senior Life is the third largest Green House community in the country.

Each home features a warm, welcome environment complete with a kitchen, common areas, and private suite rooms with showers; access to outdoor spaces and self-managed care teams. These teams provide a wide range of assistance, including skilled nursing care, activities and meal preparation as well as light housekeeping and laundry.

“I’ll tell you, I can’t talk,” said Ted Donsky, a 94-year-old resident of a Jewish Senior Life’s Green House Cottage home. “You know what it’s like? It’s like a fantasy world, really.”

For Donsky, who is enthralled by having his own on-suite bathroom and has gained an independence he did not have before, his new home has “wonderful zen” and makes him feel like a “multi-millionaire.”

“I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is,” he said. “My favorite part? The whole thing.”

Jewish Senior Life, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Rochester, N.Y., is guided by the values of honoring our fathers and mothers. It offers all levels of care on a single campus from independent living to skilled nursing care along with a variety of programs and services for people living outside its campus. Consistently recognized for its high-quality care, customer satisfaction and for being a great place to work, Jewish Senior Life is CARF accredited, a U.S. News & World Report Best Nursing Home, and a Gannett Top Workplace.

In the new Green House residences, caregivers are able to personalize their approach to best meet the unique needs of each resident, resulting in more meaningful lives and relationships as exhibited in Jewish Senior Life’s Day in the Life of the Green House Cottages video.

By enhancing their living environment and delivering a more personalized care experience, residents will now have even more choice, autonomy and control. Now renovations are underway on the 198,000-square-foot Jewish Home tower to incorporate the home model, featuring private rooms and bathrooms for all long-term care residents; and The Jewish Home’s short-term rehabilitation program is being expanded, making it one of the largest post-acute care providers in the Rochester area. The project will be completed in 2019.

The campus transformation is made possible by Jewish Senior Life’s generous donors. Their support and vision ensures that Jewish Senior Life remains at the forefront of innovative person-centered care, making meaningful life a priority for years to come.

Photo credit: Copyright Sarah Mechling. Courtesy Perkins Eastman