57-Year-Old Baptist Assisted Living Home in Dallas to Close
The Buckner Retirement Village in East Dallas, which is operated by a faith-based ministry that promotes healthy Christian lifestyle, will close the doors of its Mary E. Trew assisted living home Dec. 1, because of state regulations being placed on the facility.
The Baptist-affiliated facility, which has been in operation for 57 years, offers assisted living, Alzheimer’s and hospice care.
“We care very deeply about our residents and employees,” said Charlie Wilson, senior vice president for Buckner Retirement Services, Inc., in a statement. “This was a very hard decision to make, but one that was unavoidable.”
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The closure date was initially announced to residents as Nov. 9, but has been extended until Dec. 1. Wilson said the move needed to happen quickly because of state requirements for the memory-care building, which would require costly measures and rapid implementation to fully continue operations through the end of the year.
Wilson told The Christian Post Tuesday, the state is changing its standards this year, and would not renew the waivers they’ve given to the home in the past. The state wants to bring their compliance level up and is requiring all assisted living homes to have a sprinkler system in case of fire.
In the past, the Trew Home was given waivers for not having a sprinkler system because they have a secure building, fire alarms, and automatic release locks on the memory-care part of the building. Since the facility was built in the 1950s it did not come equipped with a sprinkler system.
Wilson said the organization looked at different options “to try to keep [the] building open until we could replace the building and not have this occur.” But in the end, they found it to be “a stewardship issue. We were left with a no win situation.”
The amount of resources they would have to put into installing a new sprinkler system in the old building would be too costly.
The state also said they would not allow the facility to have a locked area anymore. But the reason people are in the locked portion of memory care is because they need a secure environment. Jenny Pope, director of marketing and media relations for Buckner International, said today, unlocking the “doors to memory care and dementia would cause serious risk.”
Some residents and families expressed concern over the quickly approaching leave date. But the organization is working with them to make the process go smoothly. They are providing residents up to $2,000 in reimbursement for moving expenses, a deposit for a new place to live and the first month’s rent, and waiver of November’s rent for residents of the Trew Home.
Buckner is also working with employees to find new employment opportunities, including reassignment to other positions within Buckner and outside employment.
Wilson said the closure serves as a step toward building new assisted living and memory care facilities so they can provide senior-living options for those in East Dallas.
