Midway’s Chateau Recovery Center is interested in expanding to Oakley by purchasing Elk Meadows, which is Summit County’s only assisted living facility.
Gary Beynon of Colina Real Estate Partners, who represents Elk Meadows’ ownership group, said there is a “pending contract,” but it’s far from final and could still fall through.
“We're actually meeting with all the residents and families of residents on Monday [Sept. 23] to go over this in more detail and answer any questions that they may have, and also with our employees,” Beynon told KPCW.
A handful of residents protested before the 3:30 p.m. meeting. They don’t want to see Elk Meadows close, and Oakley resident Darcey Debernarde, whose mom lives there, agrees.
“I'm angry, to be honest, because it's a big deal to move someone that's got that's older and has some dementia,” Debernarde said.
According to Elk Meadows activities director Kaitlan Blacksher, there are 42 rooms with about 30 residents in them right now. The rest are in hospital care and may return once their condition improves.
“Most of the people that live at Elk Meadows have grown up in the Kamas Valley or surrounding areas. They've been there their entire lives,” she explained. “Some of them were my school teachers.”
If the sale goes through, they’ll need to find a new facility.
Colina employs Rocky Mountain Care to manage Elk Meadows, and Rocky Mountain has a network of locations around the state and country, including The Lodge in Heber.
Beynon said that may help residents and employees transition, if it comes to that. But Debernarde said Heber’s two assisted living facilities are already running 40-plus person waitlists, including people from Elk Meadows.
“People are coming in frantically and putting their loved ones on the waitlist,” she said.
Debernarde expects she’ll need to drive to Provo or the Salt Lake Valley to find a place for her mom, just after she moved her to Elk Meadows in June.
Elk Meadows has met with the state’s Department of Health and Human Services for advice on a closure plan, and Beynon said they intend to follow state requirements such as giving 30 days notice should the facility close.
“We will be flexible if necessary and needed to work with them beyond those 30 days to find them a good place,” he said.
Many residents heard about the pending sale when Oakley City posted a courtesy notice online Sept. 17, directing public input to city planner Stephanie Woolstenhulme until Sept. 27.
The notice says Chateau Recovery plans “a 56-bed, residential treatment facility, primarily for first responders and military veterans suffering from drug and alcohol addictions, substance use disorders, traumas and other disabilities.”
Woolstenhulme said the services are already allowed under Elk Meadows’ current permit with the city, which Chateau Recovery would inherit.
That means the PTSD and addiction recovery center could open quickly once it closes the deal.
Blacksher said those services are important but reiterates that Elk Meadows is the only assisted living facility in the county. She believes the residents have done more for her life than she’s done for theirs.
“They're just always so grateful for anything I plan or do,” Blacksher said. “I'm really sad to think that I might not get to see them every day.”
She got her job one month ago.
