Officials break ground for Chatham nursing home
By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune Editor
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:07 AM EST

Construction may have begun several months earlier, but that didn't stop officials from holding a ceremonial ground-breaking Thursday for an 85-bed nursing home in Chatham.

About 30 people attended the brief event at the 25-acre site off South Main Street and Evergreen Drive.

Mayor George Haley welcomed the long-awaited project.

"When you dream about something and it actually becomes a reality it's a wonderful time," said Haley.

Roanoke's Smith/Packett is building the nursing home and has been working on the project for about three years.

The nursing home received final approval from the Virginia Department of Health last December.

"It would be impossible to thank the hundreds of people who supported the nursing home," said the mayor. "It was a real team effort. Everybody came together."

Smith/Packett originally planned to build a 60-bed nursing home, but expanded the project earlier this year by purchasing an additional 25 beds from R.J. Reynolds-Patrick County Memorial Hospital in Stuart.

The additional beds added $1.9 million to the $5.8 million project, and will make the nursing home more efficient, said Bruce Hedrick, senior vice president of development for Smith/Packett.

The nursing home, which will be called Chatham Health and Rehabilitation Center, will be managed by Third Street Management in Hickory, N.C.

Joyce Denham, director of operations for Third Street, said the nursing home will be community oriented - "neighbor taking care of neighbor."

The facility is scheduled to open next June and will employ about 100 people.

Earlier, Smith/Packett said rates would be $150 a day for a private room and $135 a day for a semi-private room.

Smith/Packett's long-range plans include 50 independent living apartments and a 52-bed assisted-living wing for patients with Alzheimer's and dementia.

tim.davis@chathamstartribune.com

(434) 432-2791