Sage Living budget, size, scope approved

St. John’s Medical Center is pleased to announce the final approval for budget, size, and scope for Sage Living, a new facility on the Health campus that will provide residential senior care, including specialized care for residents with memory problems, and a center for acute inpatient rehabilitation.

On Tuesday, June 11, St. John’s Board of Trustees authorized Health administrators to finalize a construction contract with GE Johnson for a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) not to exceed $37.4 million resulting in a total project cost not to exceed $45.1 million.

“Due to the remarkable lead gift from the community through the Specific Purpose Excise Tax (SPET) and the incredible support of St. John’s Hospital Foundation and community philanthropists, we will be able to construct Sage Living without the need to request any additional SPET funding or imperiling the hospital’s financial health,” said St. John’s CEO Paul Beaupré, MD.

In 2017, Teton County residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of $17 million in SPET to be used for the new senior living facility. The St. John’s Hospital Foundation has generously agreed to raise $19 million for the project, and the Health will contribute the balance.

“Sage Living started with a vision as to how we each wanted to be able to age in Teton County. It will be a remarkable home for seniors, funded through remarkable gifts from the community and individual donors,” said Cynthia Hogan, chair of the St. John’s Medical Center Board of Trustees. “The hospital and foundation boards have partnered together throughout the long design phase and are thrilled to be ready to start to build."

“The final project scope has significant benefits for residents and the community,” said Linda Aurelio, the daughter of a Living Center resident and a member of the St. John’s Medical Center Board of Trustees. “I’m very proud of the St. John’s Hospital Foundation, my fellow board members, the Sage Living Task Force, and our staff for their vision to transform the experience of aging in Teton County.”

Some of the greatest benefits of the approved Sage Living plan include the following:

• Sage Living will keep together families whose loved ones are aging, have dementia, or need acute rehabilitation. The final approved plan provides more private long-term care and memory care beds. In addition, the facility will offer acute inpatient rehabilitation care, an important new service line that has not been previously available in Teton County. Acute inpatient rehabilitation offers physician and therapy services (such as intensive physical, speech and occupational therapy) in collaboration with 24/7 rehabilitation nursing to individuals who have experienced a stroke, traumatic injury, or debilitating disease.

• Sage Living is a home and a community. The approved plan provides more communal spaces for residents to visit with friends and families. The long-term care units, all private rooms or companion suites, will be created as neighborhoods with shared areas for dining and life-enriching events and activities to inspire, educate, and enjoy. The plan design includes public spaces that are warm and inviting so that the greater Jackson Hole community feels welcome to be a part of the Sage Living community. In order to achieve these objectives, the size of the facility was expanded from 60,000 square feet to 74,000 square feet.

• The expanded facility size and scope of services will lead to financial sustainability sooner than was projected for previous plans, without requiring an increase in rates beyond St. John’s market-adjusted rate schedule for long-term care.

Groundbreaking for Sage Living will take place during Summer 2019 as scheduled. The projected duration of construction is twenty-four months. The public is invited to a Groundbreaking Ceremony on July 18, at 10 am on the St. John’s Medical Center campus.

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Media Contact: Karen Connelly at 739-7390 or email kconnelly@tetonhospital.org.

ABOUT ST. JOHN’S MEDICAL CENTER

St. John's Health in Jackson, Wyoming, offers patient-centered clinical excellence and community wellness services through a full-service hospital, primary care, and specialty physician practices, and a long-term care Living Center.

ABOUT ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

The mission of the St. John’s Hospital Foundation is to secure philanthropic support to advance the mission and strategic objectives of St. John’s Medical Center, including patient-centered care, clinical excellence, and community wellness. For more information about the Foundation, please contact John Goettler at 307.739.7516 or jgoettler@tetonhospital.org.