Derby project for dementia residents to open in November

Oxford Management is close to opening its first ground-up senior care project, Glen Carr House in Derby.

Jason Wiley, president of Oxford, said Tuesday he expects the first 12-unit building in the project's first phase to open in November, followed by the opening of a second, 12-unit building in December.

The project will be targeted at serving seniors who have dementia, such as Alzheimer's.

The first phase represents a little more than $3 million of the $8 million project. The entire project will consist of six, 12-unit buildings on a five-acre site a half-mile southeast of Meadowlark and Rock Road.

The company is in the process of hiring a mix of part-time and full-time workers who will account for 22 full-time equivalent positions.

Wiley said response to the company's help wanted ads has been such that it has had to schedule two additional days for group interviews.

The majority of the positions it seeks to fill are caregivers such as nurses and nurse aides.

Response to the project by residents and their families also has been strong, Wiley said, noting that the company had two reservations before the roof was put on the first building.

"So we expect to open the first building full," he said.

The Glen Carr project is an important one to Wiley, and not just because it's the first senior care project Oxford has constructed.

It is named after Wiley's grandfather, who had Alzheimer's.

There was no memory care facility in Derby when his grandfather was diagnosed, so Wiley's family served as the caregivers until his grandfather's death.

"It was a huge strain on my family to care for him," said Wiley, who also was involved in the mid-1990s in opening the former Sterling House's first memory care unit, in Salina.

He said Glen Carr will offer services that are unique to the area, including extra training on caring for dementia patients. The 40 hours of training will be led by Laurie Krenke, who is Glenn Carr's director of operations and a licensed social worker who is also certified by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners.

Wiley said the company plans to offer similar training to families of Glen Carr residents.

Each resident will live in a unit equipped with an interactive flat-panel monitor that through a software product called SimpleC Companion will broadcast recorded messages of family members, show family photographs and play music specific to each resident.

"It's all geared toward drawing that person back out of their shell," Wiley said.

Oxford Management, based in Wichita, develops, acquires and operates senior living facilities. It owns and operates Rock River Assisted Living in Jackson, Wyo. , and plans to develop a senior living community at NewMarket Square in northwest Wichita.

This story was originally published August 31, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Derby project for dementia residents to open in November."