BELPRE – Although the Belpre Landing Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation and Assisted Living facility at 1915 Hill St. is the 20th opened by Continuing Healthcare Solutions it represents the next generation in care.

Scott Sprenger, president and chief operating officer of Continuing Healthcare Solutions, said the company is a little more than three years old but the ownership has 30 years of experience in rehabilitation and assisted living care.

“We run a family business; my brother and I and a cousin started the company,” Sprenger said.

Belpre is not the company’s first venture into southeast Ohio, Sprenger said. Locations are nearby in Coolville, Beverly and McConnelsville. Belpre Landing will be the company’s 20th location.

While some of the facilities have more beds than Belpre Landing, it is the largest 50-bed facility in the company.

“This is our largest 50-bed facility, but we also have 100-bed and 150-bed facilities,” he said. “This is our first true next generation model with private rooms and Internet service, restaurant-style dining and we can offer nursing home and assisted living levels of care.”

When Belpre Landing is fully operational, it will have 70 full-time employees in therapists, nurses, medical directors, and offer services without having to leave the facility, Sprenger said.

Sprenger said residents in the center will be able to move from assisted living to skilled nursing as their needs change.

“As their needs change, or if there is a spell of illness, they can go to skilled and then back to assisted living,” he said. “

Meals for the assisted living patients are prepared by the kitchen since the rooms, which are set up like a one-bedroom apartment with a private bath, do not have a full kitchen.

“We prepare the meals,” he said.

“They have little kitchenettes where they can do things like toast or frozen dinners.”

Sprenger said Belpre Landing has taken in its first two patients and more will come pending certification by the state.

“Now we have to wait for the state to certify us before we can take Medicare and Medicaid patients,” he said. “That should be in the next two weeks or so. They don’t tell us when they will come; we expect to be able to take our first Medicare and Medicaid patients in two weeks.”

Belpre Landing will be able to provide care for wounds and surgery along with skilled rehabilitation in occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy. “We also have affiliations with home health and hospices that can come for assisted living to provide care in the facility,” he said.

Sprenger said the company looks forward to working with the Belpre community and providing services to what the company saw as having an underserved senior community.

“We’re very excited to be here and provide services to seniors in the community,” he said. “It’s always nice to have a brand new facility that can offer services for tomorrow’s seniors.”

Bryan Casey, administrator at Belpre Landing, said about 10 years ago the work to establish something like Belpre Landing began.

Casey said the 70 full-time jobs will have added $50,000 to the payroll tax in Belpre.

Casey said the focus of Belpre Landing is the patient who will need care for 40 to 70 days. He said others may be there for 10 days to three weeks.

“Not all of them will return home, some may go to assisted living or to a shared site somewhere,” he said. “Our focus is on the rehabilitation component, that’s why the rooms are all private rooms; the privacy issues is why we have the showers in each room; those are thing that really lend to doing more short-term care.”

Casey said the typical patient is someone who had a knee or hip replacement, stroke or someone who needs intensive rehabilitation and planning on attempting to get back home.

Casey said more than $1 million in equipment has been invested in Belpre Landing.

“It is a culmination of my dream to see this building here,” he said.