EXETER — RiverWoods CEO Justine Vogel stated health-care standards have evolved significantly since the continuing care retirement community opened its first health center 30 years ago.
“The way people receive care and the environments in which they receive it have advanced,” she said.
Vogel explained this evolution is a key driver behind RiverWoods' plans to construct a new three-story, state-of-the-art health center .
This new facility will replace the existing health centers in each of the community’s neighborhoods — The Woods, The Ridge and The Boulders — offering centralized care.
The building, according to RiverWoods, is being designed as its “fourth campus,” providing all levels of care from assisted living, enhanced assisted living, memory support services and nursing.
“We’re for creating an environment for our residents who will be in the last chapter of their lives to have the absolute best way to live,” she said.
What's the vision for new RiverWoods health care center?
The 158,000-square-foot building, which will be located near the administration office at 7 Riverwoods Drive, will include 126 rooms for residents who require assisted living care, skilled care and memory care, according to RiverWoods leaders.
It will feature spacious apartments designed in a “small house” style, creating a homey, neighborhood-like atmosphere for those requiring enhanced care.
The building will feature "fun amenities" for residents and visitors, including a lobby coffee shop.
"Our concept is (to) create a healthcare environment that's another part of our community, that's designed for the people who live there, but also that's inviting to the rest of our community,” she said. “It doesn't feel like you're visiting grandma in a hospital room, it feels like you're visiting grandma in her living room.”
The building will have two courtyards for secured outdoor access and 113 parking spaces, 64 of which are underground.
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New health care center proposal faces backlash
The proposed project has received backlash from some due to its "massive size" and that it would be built in a low-density, single-family residential neighborhood.
RiverWoods recently went before the town's Planning Board in June for a preliminary conceptual consultation on the project before it submits its final plans.
This was after the town's Zoning Board rejected two variances for the project. One would have allowed the project to exceed the 35-foot height limit for a gabled-roof design, and the other would have allowed 11 of 116 parking spaces within the 100-foot landscape buffer of the building.
The rejection led RiverWoods to alter its plans to have a flat-roof design, instead of a gable-roof, for the building and to offer fewer parking spaces.
“I think people are concerned that they will see the building," she said. "But drive around, our buildings are beautiful, our landscaping is beautiful. People will see it, but they’ll see something really beautiful, and they’ll see something that’s part of our community and part of the larger community.”
Vogel said RiverWoods owns approximately 200 acres of land in the area, but noted that this site was the only suitable location for the project. She explained that much of the land is designated as a conservation area, and some sections have a gas pipeline running through them, which restricts development.
“We’ve literally tried everything else,” she said. "This location is (also) central to all our campuses.”
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RiverWoods residents split on project
RiverWoods resident Ken Brown has been one of the project's most vocal critics.
He said “most residents are against” the project, citing they “like it the way it is.”
Brown said having a health center on each campus is “more convenient” and “better” for the residents.
Resident Andrea Williams, however, sees the benefit of a new, “enhanced” health center.
Williams moved into RiverWoods in 2014 with her late husband, George, who suffered from Lewy body dementia, resulting in him having to move into the health center at The Lodge. Williams said his condition progressed rather quickly, which required constant help from the staff when he "got out of control."
"He was pounding up and down the hallway and hallucinating…this was at night," recalled Williams. "Every single staff person had to come, they had to leave what they were doing for anyone else on the floor to try and manage George."
She said having one centralized location will make it easier for the staff to provide the necessary care.
Resident Howie Ulfelder said the current health centers are in need of improvements.
“This was state-of-the-art 30 years ago,” he said. “We want to be state-of-the-art again."
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New health center will allow for more housing
Vogel acknowledged that "change is hard" and that with 600 residents in RiverWoods, not everyone is going to agree.
However, she said, overall, residents will benefit from the new healthcare center, which will allow them to offer better care.
One of the primary benefits of the new building, she said, is the ability to have all their healthcare workers in one location.
“When we have three distinct healthcare buildings you don’t have the depth,” said Vogel. “You don’t have the bench to call in (for additional help), but if we’re all in one building… they’d have the depth to call one another.”
Currently, residents also have to travel to different health centers for different treatments. A centralized health center would allow RiverWoods to offer all services under one roof, added Vogel.
She said they plan to offer shuttles to and from the new health center in each of the three communities.
Vogel said the new building will also allow them to add additional housing. She said they currently have a waitlist of nearly 400 people who want to live at RiverWoods.
Once the new health center is complete, Vogel said the three existing health centers would be converted into independent living spaces. She estimates they will be able to offer 70 to 75 additional units.
Vogel said they hope to break ground in the summer of 2025, pending site-plan approval from the Planning Board.
"We're an important part of the fabric of Exeter," she said. “We're committed to doing good things. We're here forever, and when you're here forever, you need to be a good neighbor."
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RiverWoods CEO makes case for new health care center in Exeter amid criticism
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