Loretto completes the Borer Memory Life Community in Jamesville

DeWITT, N.Y. — Loretto announced it has completed work on the approximately $8 million Borer Memory Life Community, a facility focused on “dedicated memory care support” for those dealing with dementia.

“This is going to be the future of memory care,” Kimberly Townsend, president and CEO at Loretto, contended in a statement. “We’ve seen it work successfully in the Netherlands and we know this is what’s needed here in the U.S.”

The Borer Memory Life Community is located at Loretto’s Nottingham campus at 1301 Nottingham Road in the Jamesville area of the town of DeWitt. Loretto held a Friday news conference about the new facility, which is part of an $11 million project to expand dementia care at three of its locations.

Loretto has already completed renovations on the advanced dementia floor at the Cunningham and at the Heritage, a dedicated dementia-care, assisted-living facility, Julie Sheedy chief marketing and engagement officer, tells CNYBJ in an email.

Loretto says it is recruiting for more than 20 new positions, and Dorenda Schmidt has been promoted to administrator of the Borer Memory Life Community. She previously served as a social worker and care manager at the Nottingham.

The Syracuse office of Providence, Rhode Island–based Gilbane Building Company was the general contractor on the project and QPK Design of Syracuse was the architect.

PEMCO Group, Inc. of Syracuse handled the project-management component, per a Loretto fact sheet on the facility.

People’s United Bank of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania provided financing for the project, Loretto noted.

About the donor

The Borer Memory Life Community is named after Frank and Patti Borer, who are lifelong residents and donated $1 million to support this project. The Borer family pledged $1 million to Loretto’s RememberMe Capital Campaign in support of the memory-care initiative, Loretto announced in October 2018.

The Borers started the Petr-All Petroleum Corp in 1973, which grew to 80 convenience stores over 45 years, per Loretto. Patti Borer is currently a resident at the Nottingham.

According to the Chicago, Illinois–based Alzheimer’s Association, the number of Americans age 65 and older living with memory loss is projected to increase from 5.1 million in 2016 to 16 million in 2050. Nearly 18 percent of that growth will happen in New York. The memory loss would be the result of Alzheimer’s and other dementia conditions, Loretto noted.

The nonprofit Loretto is a health-care organization providing services for older adults throughout Central New York. The organization serves close to 10,000 individuals each year through 19 locations in Onondaga and Cayuga counties.