Lehigh County taking a ‘significant step’ toward $47 million Cedarbook addition
If approval is granted, construction could begin by late summer
Lehigh County is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in its protracted quest for an estimated $47 million addition to Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation facility in South Whitehall Township.
The county is in the process of seeking preliminary/final approval from South Whitehall Planning Commission for a four-story, 141,625-square-foot addition at the county-owned facility on Cedarbrook Road. An appearance before the planners was scheduled for Thursday night.
“It’s a significant step,” said Rick Molchany, county director of General Services.
The county has hired Noelker and Hull Associates of Chambersburg as its architect and the multinational company Skanska as construction manager.
Construction could begin by late summer, Molchany said.
Lehigh County serves up to 670 residents at its Cedarbrook sites in South Whitehall and Fountain Hill campuses, offering skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and respite, hospice and palliative care.
It began caring for indigent seniors at the South Whitehall site 176 years ago.
The center portion of the present facility, which has about 473 beds, dates back to 1925. The last of the four wings — the D Wing — was built 50 years ago.
Residents share rooms, some four to a room. All must walk to a hall to use communal bath
rooms.
Plans for Cedarbrook — including whether to sell it to a private provider — have been debated, abandoned, altered and delayed for nearly 20 years.
Molchany himself has been involved in the current round for seven years.
In 2017, county commissioners signed off on plans to spend an estimated $69 million to build the newwingand renovate the D wing in South Whitehall. Each two-person room would share a Jack-and-Jill bathroom with an adjoining room.
But the county learned a new federal rule required each room have its own bathroom. In May 2019, commissioners opted to split the project into two phases.
The addition would be built first and would have 240 beds that would be a mix of double, single and isolation rooms. Each room would have its own bathroom. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the HVAC system will be able to purify air
and kills germs, Molchany said.
It would not be connected to the existing building but would be accessible via pedestrian bridge, Molchany said. Residents from the B and C wings would move in once it is finished.
The D wing would be put off until the federal government rules on whether to issue a waiver for Jack-and-Jill bathrooms.
Molchany said adding private bathrooms in the Dwing would mean cutting the number of proposed beds there from about 233 to 200 — a move the county doesn’t want to make both for the sake of residents and the county’s bottom line. The D wing currently has 290 beds.
Because 90% of its residents are on Medicaid, and 230 require high-cost dementia care, Cedarbrook doesn’t bring in enough money to cover its $75 million budget, Molchany said.
The county budgets a $2.5 million subsidy every year to make up the difference.
Molchany said the hope is a renovated facility will not only be better for current residents, but will draw more people who are subsidized by Medicare or can pay privately. This would help defray the county’s outlay.
He noted that from a nursing care standpoint, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (www.medicare.gov/nursing homecompare) gave Cedarbrook four-star ratings on overall, health inspections, staffing and quality measures. Many private senior living centers have similar ratings.
Lehigh County is among 14 counties in Pennsylvania that provide senior care. Neighboring Northampton County does as well with its Gracedale facility
Molchany emphasized Lehigh County doesn’t want to compete with private facilities, but help its bottom line so it can better serve residents.
“People live longer than their money lasts,” he said.
During the planning approval process, the county is seeking to consolidate three lots, demolish the abandoned juvenile detention facility, add 80 parking spaces and access driveways and build two stormwater management facilities.
In addition, the county is seeking required permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
“We need to get permits before wecan put a shovel in the ground, Molchany said.
Meanwhile, Skanska will be working on final budget numbers. The $47 million figure for the new wing was an early estimate.