The Sentara Village assisted living campus on South Newtown Road in Norfolk will be repurposed and modernized to focus on short-term physical rehabilitation, skilled nursing and ventilator care.

“We are responding to a community need for more intensive clinical services,” says Carole Guinane, interim president of Sentara Life Care. “Patients need short-term rehabilitation after joint replacement and strokes and we’ll be able to offer more modern facilities. We’ll also add ten ventilator beds for patients who need that support.” Sentara Nursing Center Norfolk is one of two facilities in Hampton Roads with ventilator programs.

The campus plan includes closure of the existing Sentara Village assisted living facility on the Newtown Road campus and consolidation with Sentara Village in Virginia Beach on Sentara Way near Rosemont Road and  I-264. Assessments for remaining Norfolk Village residents are underway to determine the best living arrangements for them in their current state. Some will be able to transition to Sentara Village Virginia Beach. Others may be in a place where long-term care is more appropriate and some may relocate to other assisted living facilities. Sentara Life Care is working with residents and families to achieve the best outcomes.

“We appreciate that this transition is disruptive,” Guinane adds. “But we need to meet a community need and make the best use of our existing facilities, and we believe this plan will work for our residents and patients.”

Space currently occupied by the Norfolk Village building will be used to create private rooms for nursing home residents and rehabilitation patients and install a modern rehabilitation gym.

Plans are to close the Assisted Living Village by the end of 2017. About 30 affected employees will be offered other positions within Sentara Life Care or Sentara Healthcare.  Mobile Meals of Norfolk food preparation will move from the assisted living village kitchen to the adjacent nursing center kitchen and continue uninterrupted. Design and budgeting for the new facilities are in progress.