Hastings care facility to add more rooms to better meet a growing need

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - A memory care facility in Hastings is adding more rooms to take in more residents.

Providence Place of Hastings made a groundbreaking announcement Thursday afternoon and said they will be adding 19 rooms to the Memory Care facility.

The cost of the project is expected to be several million dollars. Currently, they are looking for a contractor that will lead the project for the expansion.

Officials say once the project is underway, it could take 10 to 12 months to finish.

Nicky Ockinga, Sales Director, said this will lead to less people getting turned away from Memory Care.

“We have been full for so long that we were turning people away. People need to have a place to go in our community,” Ockinga said. “Dementia is a hard illness, there are behaviors with that. It’s hard for families to take care of these people at home anymore.”

Ockinga said they want families to have a peace of mind knowing their loved one is getting the care they need close to home.

The facility specializes in dementia care which can come with behavioral patterns that can be hard for families. Officials say they saw the need for more room about three years ago.

“When you’re full and people need you immediately and you have to go some place else we had people that had to go over to Grand Island or down out of Hastings, well that’s a lot of travel for people that are elderly,” Ockinga said. “You don’t want your 80-year-old mother traveling down to see your 85-year-old 30 miles away.”

Due to the lack of housing, residents have to bring their loved ones to facilities outside of Hastings. The additional room will allow more families to be closer here in Hastings.

“We do a good job of helping that spouse or that son and daughter who hated to do this,” Ockinga said. “Nobody wants to put their relative in a community and not be at home. But we help them feel better about it. I had one lady come in and she said ‘I felt like God just drove me here.’”

When the project is complete, Providence Place of Hastings expects to add up to 15 new jobs in the community, according to Ockinga.

“If you’re adding a several million dollar addition you’re going to have people working in the community, eating in the community, their family will be in the area,” Ockinga said. “You’re going to have 15 more staff members to add on to the roll, so you’re going to have 15 more people to the employment rosters.”

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