At a time when many senior living community owners and operators are reducing their number of skilled nursing beds and many investors are shying away from the property type, one Texas assisted living community recently expanded its offerings to include skilled nursing.

Simpson Place Assisted Living in Dallas, managed by Lewisville, TX-based StoneGate Senior Living, held the official ribbon-cutting and open house for its new skilled nursing facility on July 17. The expansion adds 50 skilled nursing beds — for short-term and long-term skilled care as well as rehabilitation — to the community’s existing 120 assisted living beds.

“There is a need for skilled nursing within a continuum of post-acute care inside the Baylor University Medical District, and we are proud to bring this exceptional care to the metroplex,” Simpson Place Administrator Roderick Wallace said. 

The availability of skilled nursing will help Simpson Place serve the needs of its existing assisted living residents so they don’t need to go elsewhere, Angela Norris, RN, BSN, senior vice president of business development at StoneGate Senior Living, told McKnight’s Senior Living.

“On many occasions, following an acute hospitalization or illness, our assisted living residents need a more intense level of care. They need short-term, inpatient skilled nursing and/or therapies in a skilled nursing facility,” she said. “Prior to opening our Simpson Place skilled nursing facility, our own assisted living residents would be forced to seek these transitional care services at a SNF that wasn’t part of our StoneGate family. Now, our assisted living residents will have the opportunity to receive quality SNF services on the same campus in which their assisted living apartment sits. We’re providing top-notch care for ‘our own’ while simultaneously growing our business.”

Growing the business comes in the form of attracting new residents through the expanded offerings, Norris said.

“Individuals with no existing connection to Simpson Place Assisted Living also have the option to choose Simpson Place skilled nursing facility for their short-term, inpatient skilled nursing and therapies. …All in all, we feel confident that these two different levels of care – assisted living and skilled nursing – can help each other maintain a full census/occupancy,” she said.

Older adults who are “economically challenged” may qualify for vouchers from the Dallas Housing Authority to cover the cost of their stays in assisted living, Norris said. “External customers who choose our SNF may also benefit from the housing vouchers in our assisted living facility at a later date,” she added.

Simpson Place also is addressing a need for housing and care for moderate-income seniors, Norris said.

“The entire Simpson Place campus seeks to serve low- or moderate-income residents,” she said. “This has always been the intent of this location. At $2,995/month, our private rates at Simpson Place Assisted Living are lower than most other local assisted living facilities. Our assisted living facility offers a multi-story location with outstanding views of downtown Dallas and presents value for residents who cannot afford typical assisted living facility rates and/or who fail to qualify financially and/or medically for Texas Medicaid in a nursing home setting.”

Once the Simpson Place skilled nursing facility passes initial inspections, it will accept private payments, hospice program payments, Medicaid, Medicare and some managed care insurance.