Saratoga’s oldest business sold to Los Gatos health care group
Saratoga’s longestrunning business, Our Lady of Fatima Villa, will change hands this summer for the first time in its 68-year history.
Kalesta Health Care Group will be the new owner-operator of the senior center at 20400 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road which houses 85 seniors in its skilled nursing and physical therapy facilities and 84 seniors in its assisted living section.
Residents should not be affected by the changes, Kalesta Founding Partner Scott Clawson said. The company, according to an online search is currently headquartered in Los Gatos.
“Our plans are to continue the legacy the Dominican Sisters created and add any way we can to their legacy,” Clawson said. “We want to maintain their quality of life and level of care.”
Our Lady of Fatima was founded in 1949 by the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena and is believed to be the oldest continuously operating business in Saratoga. It has received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. US News and World Report has also ranked it one of the top nursing homes in the nation.
Although Kalesta Health Care is a new business, Clawson says he and his three partners are up to the task of running our Lady of Fatima Villa, noting they collectively have more than 50 years of experience in the healthcare industry.
Clawson managed the Vasona Creek Healthcare Center in Los Gatos, which is part of the Plum Healthcare Group. Plum operates 50 skilled nursing homes in California, Utah and Arizona.
“We’ve had roles in very large companies and we’ve seen things go right and wrong,” Clawson said. “This will be our flagship property.”
Clawson lives in Los Gatos and says Kalesta plans to open settle its headquarters in either Los Gatos or Saratoga.
He and his partners also plan to maintain the community relationships that Our Lady of Fatima
residents have built over nearly 70 years: The Saratoga Rotary Art Show at West Valley College and the annual Easter Egg Hunt and Halloween activities, to name a few.
“We want to continue to be a big influence in the community and serve the people of Saratoga,” Clawson said.
That was important to
the current owners, who said more than 90 organizations were interested in taking over Our Lady of Fatima’s operations.
“We did not go with the highest offer,” Fatima CEO Bella Mahoney said. “We went with the best for the community that would be the least disruptive.”
Prompting the sale was the changing state and federal regulatory atmosphere, Mahoney said.
“There was a big change in regulations in the last year-and-a-half, which made it more and more difficult to provide quality care,” Mahoney said. “Also, the numbers of sisters are diminishing and they wanted to get out of the business. So, we felt we needed to pass it on while it was in good shape.”
Further details of the ownership change will be made available pending regulatory approval, which is expected this summer.