NEW ORLEANS — On April 26, Poydras Home offered a preview of a $23 million renovation and expansion that is designed to transform the way its nursing home residents live. The new buildings will support the senior living provider’s new status as a Green House Project community.
Introduced nearly two decades ago by a Maryland-based nonprofit, the Green House approach downplays elements of institutional care in favor of a more home-like environment.
“Today, the head of our hospitality department is doing culinary training with our care partners,” said Erin Kolb, Poydras Home CEO, at the event. “They will be cooking meals. Laundry will be done in a home, just like you and I live in. And that is one of the core values of a Green House home: creating meaningful life each day for the elders who live in that home and having a dedicated team of empowered staff to provide care.”
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t Poydras Home, nursing home residents now will be divided into individual “houses” — actually six wings of two three-story buildings — that either hold 12 or 14 people each. The houses are linked by a glass atrium. In each, private rooms surround a community living space that features multiple living areas, a family-style dining room, fireplaces and a giant kitchen, where all meals will be prepared.
All this is designed to support the Green House goal of “transforming institutional long-term and post-acute care by creating viable homes that demonstrate more powerful, meaningful and satisfying lives, work and relationships.”
To meet this goal, staff members are undergoing roughly 60 hours of “universal worker” training to learn how to provide all aspects of care, from medical assistance to preparing meals.
In an effort to make the facility feel more like a home, staff members will no longer wear scrubs. And, in every way possible, the facility is designed to look less like a hospital and more like a home. So, equipment to lift patients from their beds is only installed if necessary, and the equipment itself is designed to be unobtrusive.
By the end of May, Poydras Home’s 64 nursing home residents will move from their current homes to the new buildings, which were designed by EskewDumezRipple and built by DonahueFavret Contractors.
Jack Sawyer, a principal at Eskew and the lead architect for the project, said the design team visited several other Green House facilities to help brainstorm ideas for the new buildings.
“In 2020, we visited several homes in Florida,” he said. “The most inspirational part for me was hearing from the caregivers about the powerful effect the home-like environment had on their guests. They told the story of a woman who had come from a very institutional environment and had really shut down and was really just in her own head. Having her sit in the kitchen and smell the onions cooking really brought her out of her shell. It was a huge transformation of quality of life.”
Phase two of the renovation, which has already begun, involves converting the space that housed the old nursing units into a “center for healthy living.” By August, the area will be home to a new salon, library, meditation area, cafe and other amenities. Residents will also regain access to a popular porch and other outdoor spaces that were unavailable during the construction process.
The renovation also includes the addition of a new 34-space parking lot along Jefferson and a new main entrance to the campus.
Two Centuries of Care
Founded in 1817 for the female children of widows left destitute by New Orleans’ yellow fever outbreaks, the community that would later be called Poydras Home was first known as the Female Orphan Society. After a name change, Poydras Home moved to its present 3.5 acre site at Magazine Street and Jefferson Avenue in 1857. More than a century later, the organization’s focus turned to caring for the elderly.
The Poydras Home of today houses residents needing different levels of care. In addition to its 64 nursing home residents, the facility has 10 independent living apartments that can accommodate couples or single residents, 22 assisted living suites that can accommodate couples or single residents, and 11 specialized assisted living secure memory care bedrooms that can accommodate single residents. 14 additional specialized assisted living memory care bedrooms have been added with the new construction.
The investment in new buildings and methodology comes as new competitors are debuting throughout the city. The Carrollton, owned by an out-of-state operator, debuted in February in the former Carrollton Courthouse. Laurel Senior Living is now open near Magazine and Louisiana. The Blake at Colonial Club opened in 2021.
It’s all in the service of capturing what is expected to be a growing market for senior care.
“The Baby Boomers have already begun flooding the eldercare market and the business of aging is changing to meet more than just their healthcare needs,” said Kolb. “We must also meet their lifestyle desires. They want personalized care in an environment that is as home-like as possible.”
