When Missions Align: New Health Care Center Grows Community
Farmers and rural residents can often feel isolated with limited access to health care and other services that may require substantial travel to a larger city. One of the biggest challenges rural communities face is finding skilled nursing care for aging community members. That’s where Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center steps in.
BRINGING CARE TO MARTIN COUNTY
Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center provides skilled nursing care in Martin County, located in southern Minnesota. Their campus includes a 24-hour nursing care facility, an independent living residence for seniors and assisted living apartments. The center opened in 1964 as a nursing facility to care for people who were no longer able to care for themselves at home.
Mae DeWar-Aust, foundation director at Lakeview, has played a large part in turning Lakeview’s vision of the future into reality.
“Throughout the history of Lakeview, we have followed our mission and vision to be the provider of choice in senior services,” DeWar-Aust said.
To live out this mission, the team has kept an evolutionary mindset, making changes and updates to meet their patients’ needs. Most recently, this meant a major expansion project to bring more space for residents, nursing patients and childcare.
A PLACE IN THE COMMUNITY
Construction on the new facility started in May 2020 and was completed in January 2022.
“Our new nursing home has a café, gift shop, beauty salon, large community gathering space and luxurious spas, all in a home-like, person-centered environment,” DeWar-Aust explained. “Our residents have a greater level of comfort and dignity with our private rooms while being part of the neighborhood style of living.”
The new 80,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility on its existing campus. The two-story building has four community households of 18 residents each, yielding a total of 72 private rooms. Each household has its own living, dining, kitchen, activity and nursing areas. A unique town center includes space for a new daycare center that will expand childcare options in the community – and provide phenomenal opportunities for the generations to learn from each other.
Most residents at Lakeview are from the local area, but others have come from farther away to be near family members in the area and are drawn to Lakeview because of the modern home-like environment in a welcoming rural community.
MISSION FINANCING STEPS IN
Compeer Financial is well known as a source for agricultural financing, but a key element of Compeer’s mission is to build and support vibrant rural communities. Lakeview worked with Compeer’s Mission Financing team, which is uniquely positioned to help rural communities prosper by securing financing for essential community infrastructure needs, like skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.
“Funding these types of projects can help create job opportunities in rural communities while adding economic strength and diversity,” said Bob Madsen, VP of Mission Financing at Compeer. “Most of all, our Mission Financing program contributes to the vitality of rural communities by adding increased access to critical services for residents.”
DeWar-Aust noted that Lakeview’s focus the last five years has been to move their mission of care into the 21st century, serving a large area in Martin County. “With the help and support of Compeer Financial,” she said, “we now have the opportunity to make our nursing home dream a reality right here in rural America.”
This article was originally printed in the Fall 2022 edition of Compeer Financial's Cultivate magazine.