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Paris Nursing Home makes a move
By Connie Beard
Published December 27, 2009
The staff and 82 residents of Paris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are adjusting to their new facility at 2900 Stillhouse Road.
The operation is owned by Texas Family Tree, which recently built a new $5 million, 150-bed facility. The new site takes the residents from the middle of Paris to 88 acres of rolling meadows just north of Paris Regional Medical Center’s north campus.
“I couldn’t imagine anything going this smooth,” said Bill Butler, licensed nursing facilitator administrator. “The staff was outstanding and with all the volunteer and family help, I couldn’t be more pleased.”
The residents made the trek between 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16.
“The residents were in the move mode,” Butler said. “We’re still working out some kinks,” mostly the phone and alarm systems.
Very little equipment was transferred to the new facility, since a majority of it was newly acquired replacements.
“Everything was new. All the furniture except the beds. We contracted with Elite Furniture Company here in Paris for the furniture — tables and chairs,” Butler said. “We used local contractors throughout the process. Everything we could do locally, we did. Most of the construction costs went right back into the community.”
As the business, staff and residents moved north, it left an empty facility on Clarksville Street. Built in the early 1960s, Butler said the building had served its original purpose.
“We looked at selling or tearing the building down. Any time you leave a building empty, it will deteriorate. (In) some communities, such as in Deport and Bogata, there are empty nursing homes, and that’s not what we wanted. We wanted someone to take the building right away and we knew with this economy it wouldn’t sell.”
Texas Family Tree has been involved in relocating nursing home facilities in the past. While searching for the best way to handle the old facility, they became aware of the work Agape House World-Wide Ministries does in Paris.
“The people I work for, Dorothea Spencer, she’s built 36 facilities and she has been a blessing to work with. We wanted someone to utilize the building and have a need for it,” Butler said.
Therefore, the Paris Nursing Home building at 3055 Clarksville Street has been donated to Agape, who will be able to take the keys as soon as the paperwork is official.
“We’re still doing some work in there,” Butler said. “We’re cleaning it up and working on some of the plumbing. We don’t want to give them a headache. We’re thankful we were able to donate it to them.”
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