On Chelsea's Admirals Hill, overlooking Boston Harbor, The Leonard Florence Center for Living will be America's first urban "Green House," providing skilled nursing care for 100 residents in an environment that bears little resemblance to nursing homes as we know them today.
Bringing the Green House model
to Greater Boston
In keeping with the progressive Green House® model sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Leonard Florence Center will consist of ten self-contained “houses" stacked within a five storey building on its Admiral Hill campus. Each home will be comprised of ten private bedrooms arranged around a common living room, dining area, and open kitchen. Each bedroom will have its own private bath and shower and each house will reflect the distinctive needs, interests, tastes, and values of its residents.
Individual homes are earmarked for residents with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis, frail elderly and short-term rehabilitation. In short, every aspect of the Leonard Florence Center – from its innovative architecture to its revolutionary staffing – will express profound respect for the value of the ill and elderly.
At the Leonard Florence Center, there will be no long corridors, no nurses' stations, no institutional meals or food carts. Instead, residents of each Green House will enjoy home-cooked meals prepared in their own kitchens and served at a common table just a few steps away from their rooms. Each house will have its own dedicated staff of "shahbazim", caregivers who are devoted to the arts of homemaking and the lovingly prepared meal. A separate clinical support team – including nurses, social workers, therapists, medical directors, nutritionists, and pharmacists – will visit the houses regularly to provide services as needed.
The Leonard Florence Center will complete the award-winning senior housing campus on Admirals Hill, complementing the 69 units of affordable assisted living at the Cohen Florence Levine Estates and the 36 studio apartments at the Florence and Chafetz Home for Specialized Care.
The Challenge Ahead
While the operating expenses associated with the Green House model are no greater than operating costs in a typical nursing home, the added cost of providing private rooms and bathrooms for all residents can be substantial, particularly in markets like Greater Boston with exceptionally high construction costs. The Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home Foundation, sponsor of the Admirals Hill campus, is committed to meeting this challenge.
In recognition of its promise, the Leonard Florence Center has received a certificate of need issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been selected as a pilot Green House project under the Robert Wood Johnson Rapid Replication Initiative Grant. Leadership gifts are already in hand (CJNH Receives Five Million Dollar Leadership Gift). CJNH Foundation is seeking additional support from private foundations and individual donors while securing public financing from a variety of sources. Groundbreaking is slated before the close of 2007.
