ALPINE — Efforts by the nonprofit Alpine Community Projects and others before them to get elder care for Alpine may well be starting to pay off. At a meeting last week, ACP Founder and President Kirsten Moody introduced officers of Southwest Assisted Living of Del Rio, who said they were interested in starting a facility in Alpine and, more importantly, they said they have the resources to do it.
The city has been without a nursing home since early 2012, when Alpine Valley Care Nursing Home abruptly shuttered due to financial difficulties. Now, the nearest nursing home for tri-county residents is in Fort Stockton, forcing families to separate and travel long distances to see their loved ones.
Southwest administrator Seferino “Sef” Gomez III and CEO Sam Shah of parent company LTCO 360, Inc. both spoke at the ACP meeting, and Shah said he owns some 30 other successful businesses, and their profits could finance a facility in Alpine. Their website says Southwest is a medium-sized senior living community that provides a “range of healthcare services, ensuring all residents are well-cared for and comfortable.”
The Alpine facility is envisioned as having both assisted living and a nursing home. Gomez said an assisted living facility is for independent living with staff available to help with day-to-day chores and medical care when needed. A nursing home should include a 24-hour call system and round-the-clock supervision since some patients may be badly disabled and may not even be able to get out of bed.
Gomez said he knows people in Marathon who need this kind of care but they chose Alpine because it is the hub for the region, and it has a full-service hospital. Alpine City Councilmember Rick Stephens remarked that the elder-care facility would be a good idea, but the key issue is whether it could be financed. The two Southwest officials assured him it could.
The ACP meeting was in Kathrine Parker’s Spicewood Restaurant in West Alpine. (The Parkers also own the nearby Parker Hotel.) She said she operated an elder-care facility in Fort Davis for many years — what she called her “passion” and her “heart.” She said an elder-care facility should be near a hospital, and she also owns property near Big Bend Regional Medical Center that could be suitable for such a facility.
Moody has been working on this idea for more than a year, and when Dr. Adrian Billings told her it could be possible, she first contacted Parker, knowing of her involvement in an earlier Fort Davis elder-care center. The ACP’s efforts in exploring elder care were boosted by a $14,000 feasibility study grant from the Big Bend Regional Hospital District.
There was no roll call at the meeting, but some 40 to 50 people attended and agreed with one suggestion — that they plan to have it all worked out within three months. Included in the meeting was a range of talents, including some medical providers with elder-care experience. The group also generally agreed the news was very good and worth pursuing. Gomez said at the next ACP meeting they will discuss sales price, opening dates and other details.