Dozens of donors have pledged millions of dollars to a foundation over the past few weeks to acquire and keep open a Steamboat Springs, CO, continuing care retirement community currently in receivership. The foundation’s president is describing the effort as “truly miraculous.”
The Yampa Valley Community Foundation announced Saturday that it had reached a verbal agreement with bondholders and expects to finalize a contract to purchase the nonprofit Casey’s Pond Senior Living Community, currently managed by Cappella Living Solutions, “as soon as possible.”
Another nonprofit, Northwest Colorado Health, will become the new owner of the CCRC, although in the near term, it will contract with Cappella to maintain day-to-day operations. Northwest Colorado Health already operates The Haven Assisted Living in Hayden, CO, and manages a regional home health and hospice program, the foundation noted.
“We are incredibly grateful to the local community for rallying around the older adults in need of housing, care and services,” Jill Vitale-Aussem, president and CEO of Cappella Living Solutions and Christian Living Communities, told the McKnight’s Business Daily on Tuesday. “Our goal has always been to retain these critical services in the mountain region, and we are thrilled that a solution has been identified. We look forward to working with another Colorado nonprofit to continue serving Yampa Valley area older adults.”
Announcement July 1
Casey’s Pond had announced July 1 that it was entering receivership, with Cordes & Company acting as the receiver. The community offers independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation.
“[S]ince its opening, Casey’s Pond has sustained constant challenges to meet its construction debt obligations to its bondholders including the COVID-19 pandemic, significant wage and expense escalation and the local and national regulatory landscape,” according to the July 1 announcement, which noted that the CCRC’s board and bondholders had been unsuccessful in a monthslong hunt for a buyer. The community went on the market on July 25 and at the time had approximately 124 residents and 134 full-time and part-time employees, according to the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
Cordes & Company said that Casey’s Pond ultimately was placed into receivership because the approximately $44 million in bonds that were used to construct the community in 2013 could not be paid off. With accrued interest and fees, the amount owed now exceeds $68 million, the receiver said.
July 26, Cordes & Company had announced up to $5,000 in relocation assistance and the refunding of life care deposits for eligible residents. The receiver subsequently announced that the CCRC’s skilled nursing facility would close in late October and that its assisted living community would close in mid-November. Affected residents were sent discharge notices. Aug. 19, all employees were notified that their employment would end as soon as Oct. 18. An auction was planned for Oct. 29.
‘Quiet fundraising campaign’ begins
More than a week earlier, however, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation’s staff, board and “closest supporters” had started a “quiet fundraising campaign” after the city of Steamboat Springs on Aug. 7 made an emergency authorization of $2.5 million to try to save the CCRC, according to the Saturday post on the foundation’s website.
The foundation’s CEO, Tim Wohlgenant, said that the organization had “secured many millions of dollars in commitments from over 70 members of our community” over the past two weeks, calling the results of the effort “truly miraculous.”
Keeping the CCRC open, the foundation noted, will avoid the “transfer trauma” that residents could face if they had to move to another senior living community or nursing home, and it will enable area residents recovering from surgery to continue to use the community to rehabilitate.
“When the agreement is in place, the Receiver will halt the process of closing the campus, and families of current residents can stop their frantic search to identify alternative living situations or facilities for their loved ones,” the foundation noted.
Stephanie Einfeld, CEO of Northwest Colorado Health, said in the post on the foundation’s website that the previous announcement of the CCRC’s expected closure has resulted in a decline in census, “and it will take time to re-fill those vacant spots.” The community currently is not accepting new residents.
The foundation said that it hopes to raise at least $500,000 “to help bridge initial operating expenses as the new Casey’s Pond strives to re-populate and re-stabilize.”
This article originally appeared on McKnight's Senior Living
