State Approves EG Nursing Home's "Green House" Plan to Build Four Smaller Homes

The Rhode Island Department of Health has approved Saint Elizabeth Home’s application to build four small resident directed homes at its East Greenwich campus.

The approval will bring ”a new model of delivering long term care to the State of Rhode Island,” the company said in a release.

“It is an exceptionally exciting time for seniors in the state of Rhode Island,” said Steven J. Horowitz, president and CEO of Saint Elizabeth Community.

A moratorium on building or adding new nursing home beds in Rhode Island has been in place since 1995 as a result of a then-surplus of beds. As nursing homes went out of business, the beds were put into a pool for future use.

In May, the state Department of Health issued an invitation to all nursing facilities to submit applications for those beds, employing a creative, new model of delivering care.

Saint Elizabeth Home was one of 3 applications that were submitted.

The plan calls for four smaller homes each providing 12 private bedrooms for seniors who need long term housing for a total of 48 beds.

Each resident would have a private bathroom and shower and share a central living space centered around a hearth with their fellow residents.

Saint Elizabeth Home is working with the Green House Project for this unique approach to elder care, which strives to make life in a nursing home feel more like being in a real home instead of a facility. Residents have the comfort of private rooms and bathrooms, but the family-like atmosphere with common living areas encourages contact and staves off loneliness.

Saint Elizabeth Community’s leadership and trustees have researched and visited Green Houses in other
parts of the US and met with the Green House Project organization numerous times,”Horowitcz said. “We
have ben very invested as an organization in bringing this new model of care to Rhode Island, and know that it
will change the way long term care is delivered.”

The next step will be to apply for a certificate of need and Saint Elizabeth Home has ben approved for an expeditious review. If approved, the project would likely begin construction next spring.

Horowitz said the project would cost $13 million.

Saint Elizabeth Home is one of 10 assisted-living facilities owned by Saint Elizabeth Community, a nonprofit.