Symphony opens first senior living facility in Indiana

June 19--CROWN POINT -- The opening of the first Symphony Post Acute Network facility in Indiana attracted a crowd of about 350 to the 100-bed facility across the street from Crown Point High School on Thursday.

"This is an exciting day for the city," Mayor David Uran said after wielding the ceremonial scissors for the ribbon cutting. "This is a $16 million investment in the city, and I want to say thank you to everybody on the team that chose Crown Point."

Uran said the facility isn't what people normally associate with a nursing home or senior living facility. Doug Peterson, vice president of development for Mainstreet, the company that chooses the locations, develops the sites and hires Symphony to operate them, called it one of the most unique health care properties in the country.

It offers a movie theater with an 80-inch screen and surround sound, a five-star gourmet chef on staff to provide meals, two pubs, a coffee shop serving Starbucks, a game room with Wii and the more traditional chess board, library and workout gym and more. And that's just for the permanent residents in the 30 studio and one-bedroom suites on the second level.

The first floor is dedicated to therapies aimed at helping people return home and includes treatment for everything from physical therapy to speech and occupational therapy and therapy for those recovering from heart surgery or joint replacement. The 70 rooms on this level have a lot of natural lighting and scenic views to give it more of a resort feel than a hospital feel although they are treating people hospitals normally treat.

Therapy also includes relearning how to live on one's own. Doing laundry and cooking and housekeeping is part of the training, and they can even plant flowers and tend to the gardens outside the facility. Permanent residents can have all their meals prepared and laundry and housekeeping handled by staff or do it themselves. They also can use one of the dining areas to entertain guests and prepare their own food.

Tim Fields, Symphony's president of operations, said Symphony has a 30-year lease with Mainstreet for the site with options that include extending the lease or buying them out. The facility already has four full-time residents but is awaiting its Medicare license that will enable it to sign managed care contracts with insurance companies for the transitional care of patients.

Fields said most senior care facilities in the area are older with few amenities and are mostly for long-term, institutional care and very little transitional care. The company plans to open a second facility in Dyer in August or September and a third in Chesterton in December or January.

"We are creating something magical here in Crown Point," Symphony CEO David Hartman said.

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