By JIM BUTLER
From apartments to artwork, chapel to canteen, Belle Grande seems as much a community as nursing and rehabilitation center.
The 139-bed facility on Versailles Boulevard opened its doors for public tour Thursday and, to put it mildly, wowed its visitors.
Situated on 15 acres dressed with pond, fountains and fauna, the Central Management Co. structure seemingly sets a new regional bar for such enterprises.
Central COO Jamie Shelton said it culminates more than 30 years of planning by one of the state’s largest owners/operators of long-term care facilities.
Ted Price Jr., president , CEO and owner of Central, was beaming as the crowd and well-wishers swelled Thursday, likely thinking about how far the industry has come since his late father and others made Rapides/Central Louisiana the heart of the state nursing home industry 50 or so years ago.
Residents and staff at Central’s Naomi Heights home on East Texas Avenue will move to Belle Grande.
The conversion process will take some time, meanwhile a waiting list grows, Shelton noted.
Belle Grande will offer a warm and friendly atmosphere and a tradition of quality care begun long ago by F. C. & Annie Mae Matthews, and a tradition based on the belief that what counts most in a long-term care facility is resident care.
The facility has all private rooms, several private apartments and a Renaissance Rehabilitation Wing that offers private suites with kitchenettes.
Other amenities include Naomi’s Chapel, complete with stained glass windows, the “Bombshells” Beauty Salon, “The Greatest” Movie Theater, Arts and Crafts Center and a variety of planned activities and social events.
Residents will also enjoy beautifully decorated atriums and day rooms, with original art created by New Orleans artist Becky Fos found throughout the building; as well as landscaped courtyards with a gazebo, fountains and elevated gardens – along with a large pavilion just inside the property’s entrance where resident families can enjoy a scenic pond view.
Belle Grande offers a complete “rehab to home” program with inpatient and outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy as well as skilled nursing care, an in-house nurse practitioner and state-of-the-art medical care for all residents.
