Following Care Partners Senior Living's acquisition of Moran Vista Senior Living, the company has taken on upgrades to the facility to match the Care Partners brand, says Aleshia Salter, the community's executive director. 

Care Partners Senior Living, a trade name for Mercer Island, Washington-based Care Partners Management Group LLC, acquired the 131-unit facility from Portland, Oregon-based Sapphire Health Services. The transaction was completed on Dec. 31. Salter declined to disclose further details of the purchase. 

The community's name has been changed to Vineyard Park at South Hill, and an open house will take place later this year to showcase the facility's improvements, which are underway now, she says. 

"We have a Vineyard Park brand throughout our different communities," says Salter who started her post in December. "So we're just going to give everything a little love and attention." 

Renovations and upgrades include new flooring, paint, minor repairs throughout the facility, new furniture, new paintings, and updated landscaping once the weather improves, says Salter. New filtered water stations have been added, and the current focus is replacing the carpet floors with hardwood floors, she says. 

"We're really asking for resident input, so that will be the progression," she says. "We are paid guests in their homes, so we want to make sure they have a choice on how it looks moving forward." 

The retirement community is located at 3319 E. 57th, in the Moran Prairie neighborhood in south Spokane. The community is comprised of three floors and has 82 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments focused on independent and light assisted-living residents, 35 studio apartments for higher-level assisted-living residents, and 14 private rooms focused on specialized memory care. 

Vineyard Park currently has 114 residents and about 50 employees, including two licensed nurses, medical technicians, caregivers, chefs, servers, dishwashers, and a dietary manager. 

Vineyard Park's license is interchangeable from assisted living to independent living, allowing residents who start out as independent-living residents to easily transition to assisted living, Salter says. 

"They don't have that transfer trauma every time moving room to room," she says. "We strongly believe in the concept of aging in place." 

Vineyard Park has a large dining room that serves three meals a day, restaurant style, says Salter. If residents are not interested in a particular day's menu, there is always alternative options to choose from, such as garden burgers and Cobb salads. The paint and furniture in the dining room will also eventually be updated, says Salter. 

To the south of the communal dining room is a private dining room that residents can reserve, free of charge, for private dining with friends and family. The space is currently under renovation as well, with new furniture, dinnerware, and other stylings, Salter says. 

Interlaced throughout the community are several common spaces for residents to gather and socialize. Near the dining room is an open den where residents congregate in the afternoons and bring their dogs to play and socialize as well. 

Some of the community amenities and common spaces include a theater for watching movies or playing virtual games that is connected to a private game and activity room with a full kitchen. The furniture in the theater is also on the list of upgrades, Salter says. 

The community also has a beauty salon on-site that offers haircuts and manicures. The salon's stylist is also a caregiver at Vineyard and on her days off from the salon, she steps in as a caregiver as well. 

Other spaces include a chapel, which will also be renovated, an exercise and therapy room, a library, and outdoor courtyards with a water feature. 

Independent-living apartments and assisted-living apartment rates range from $4,200 per month to $6,000 per month and depend on the size and location of the room. The move-in fee for independent-living and assisted-living units is $1,400. The fee for a second occupant is $1,000 per month. 

A private memory care suite ranges from $7,000 to $9,100 per month and depends on the resident's level of required care. The move-in fee for memory care residents is $1,800. 

Vineyard Park offers Medicaid Spend Down on a case-by-case basis. Medicaid Spend Down refers to situations in which a senior's income has been spent down to the medically needy income limit and becomes financially eligible for Medicaid. 

"As our residents age in place, we all know resources dwindle, so they can stay here under Medicaid, we do it all the time," Salter says. "It's a 24-month spend down, and we do it case by case." 

Care Partners Senior Living operates 28 communities throughout Washington and Arizona. In Spokane, Care Partners also operates The Cottages of Spokane, at 6930 N. Nevada, and Maplewood Gardens Independent and Assisted Living, at 1100 N. Superior. 

Vineyard Park's predecessor, Moran Vista, was established in 1997.