PARKSTON -- A $500,000 fundraising campaign intended to help fund a renovation of the Avera Bormann Manor assisted living and long-term care facility in Parkston is nearing its goal.
Avera St. Benedict Health Center President and CEO Gale Walker expects the fundraiser to meet its goal in the next three weeks, but declined to give an exact figure of the campaign's progress.
"We're doing really, really well," he said. "The people in Parkston and the surrounding area have been very generous so far."
Avera Bormann, which has 47 beds in private and double-occupancy rooms, was built 25 years ago and has never been remodeled.
Walker said the remainder of the funds, after the $500,000 anticipated from contributions and another $500,000 to be borrowed, will come from the facility's reserve fund.
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This project will modernize the facility, Walker said, and "position us for the next 25 years to meet the future expectations of the residents we will be serving."
Walker expects construction will begin in early June.
The renovation will add three private rooms, a hospice room for patients and their family, a beauty shop, as well as showers and individual heating controls in every room. Additional space will be added in the facility's day room and a room intended for those residents with brain and spinal cord injuries.
In addition, Walker said the entire facility will receive a "face lift" with the installation of new walls, lighting, floors and curtains.
Avera Bormann Director Mary Kummer said renovations will also include a new nurses' station complete with a new call system that will allow residents to silently call a nurse via a beeper.
"Families expect a lot more from longterm care facilities now than they ever have," Kummer said. "I just think the update is going to mean a lot to the families and the residents."
If Avera Bormann exceeds its fundraising goal, Walker said the remainder will be endowed to the facility, which would use any accumulated interest on the funds for future projects.
Walker said the staff at Avera Bormann made this renovation possible.
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"People want to come here because the staff provides extremely good care," he said. "Without our staff, we couldn't do things we do."
