Loretto to add 20 beds for assisted-living program at Sedgwick Heights

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Loretto plans to add 20 Medicaid-eligible, assisted-living program beds at its Sedgwick Heights location at 1100 James St. in Syracuse.

The New York State Department of Health approved the organization’s request to do so, Loretto said in a news release issued Jan. 30.

“This takes us from 120 to 140 assisted-living program beds at the Sedgwick Heights community,” Rick Mills, executive director of housing at Loretto, said. “This means that 20 of our existing beds will now become eligible for residents through the Medicaid program.”

Loretto, headquartered at 700 E. Brighton Ave. in Syracuse, is a network of agencies providing long-term care services for older adults in Central New York.

Loretto last year applied for the additional Medicaid-eligible beds in its assisted-living program.

It was responding to the state Health Department’s assisted-living program opportunity for development.

The state made the opportunity for development available through a budget initiative to expand the state’s assisted-living program by 6,000 beds over seven years.

“We are always working to find new ways to keep up with the growing demand for our services,” Penny Abulencia, senior VP at Loretto, said in the release. “These additional beds help us to support our mission to provide care for families and individuals at all income levels, especially with the growing demands from the aging population in our community. Thanks to the aging of Baby Boomers, there are more than 128,000 people needing some kind of elderly care right here in Onondaga County.”

Sedgwick Heights offers an adult home program for older adults who require some assistance with activities of daily living.

It also provides an assisted-living program for “medically stable” individuals who qualify medically for a nursing-home facility.

In addition, Sedgwick Heights offers respite stay for individuals who need a temporary-living setting with support services, such as “immediately after” a hospital stay or while caregivers are away.

The Sedgwick Heights approval followed the state go-ahead to add 38 Medicaid-eligible beds in the assisted-living program at the Bernardine back in October.

The Bernadine is a retirement community located at 417 Churchill Ave. in Syracuse.

The approval brings the number of assisted-living program beds at the Bernardine to 108, which are part of a total of 148 beds at the location.

The designation of these additional beds at Sedgwick Heights and the Bernardine brings the total number of Medicaid-eligible beds in the assisted-living program in the Loretto system up to 352.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com