Sunday will be a big day for the Salisbury-based health-care organization, Lutheran Services for the Aging (LSA).
After 25 years of effort and long-term planning, LSA will break ground on a new nursing home in Wilmington, offering LSA its first venture into New Hanover County and the county its first faith-based nursing home.
The groundbreaking celebration marking the start of construction for the 100-bed nursing home will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Piner Road site, located in the Monkey Junction area of Wilmington.
“This is truly a momentous day not only for LSA, but for the hundreds of people who have supported our efforts over the years,” said Ted W. Goins Jr., president of LSA. “We are looking forward to bringing our reputation for quality care and service to the New Hanover area.”
LSA began its efforts in Wilmington in 1983 with a donation of property from a resident. The organization embarked on a long-range plan and along the way encountered a series of regulatory barriers, before being awarded a certificate of need application last fall from the state of North Carolina.
LSA most recently competed against nine other healthcare organizations vying to build in the area.
“It was a long journey for us, and we are so grateful that we will have the opportunity to build such a beautiful, state-of-the-art nursing home,” Goins said. “We not only received support from the Lutheran churches in the area, but from the entire faith community of New Hanover County.
“LSA opens its ministry of Christian care to people of all faiths, and Wilmington will be no different.”
The new Wilmington nursing home will feature neighborhoods with 60 percent private rooms, including a 25-bed neighborhood dedicated solely to people with Alzheimer’s disease and similar types of dementia or memory loss. Secure courtyards, gardens, natural areas and a children’s playground will border the property and provide all residents and families with private, tranquil gathering places.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2010. David Polston of Wilmington is the architect.
Lutheran Services for the Aging is a not-for-profit health-care organization operating nursing homes in Salisbury, Hickory, Albemarle and Winston-Salem; retirement communities in Salisbury and Arden; and an adult day service program in Salisbury.
To learn more about the mission and ministry of Lutheran Services for the Aging, log onto its Web site at www.lsanc.net.