Locate a Health Care Center

Much progress has been made since the last construction update was posted.  The front lobby and dining room are complete and in use.  Twenty-one of the front 28 resident rooms have been renovated and will eventually be finished as Private Medicare Suites at the end of the project.  Three shower rooms/spas are complete and beautiful with ceramic tile throughout.  The new kitchen and laundry room are complete and operational.  The center courtyard has received a complete facelift with new stone and landscaping, and with a large, newly constructed gazebo as the main feature of this outside area.  The gazebo is well-equipped for outdoor events with can lighting, ceiling fans, speakers for entertainment, new patio furniture, and a large stainless steel grill.

A great deal of focus the past few months has been on the construction of the new therapy wing, second main level dining room, upstairs Alzheimer’s Unit, upstairs main dining room, main floor salon, additional common areas and offices.  Most of these areas are now framed, wired, plumbed and have drywall hung.  An additional private dining room just off the first level main dining room–complete with French doors and access to the gazebo–has been added to the plans and is under construction.  The pool in the therapy wing is also nearly complete and awaiting finishing touches before filling.  This pool, designed for therapeutic use, will be open to the community, along with the exercise/Outpatient Therapy room with its new equipment geared for the geriatric population.

Current plans call for fully integrating these new areas of the facility into operation early this summer.  At that time, several resident moves will take place.  The Alzheimer’s Unit residents will move upstairs; the West Hall residents will occupy the rooms vacated from our existing Alzheimer’s Unit; and our South Hall residents will move into newly constructed rooms across from our main dining rooms on the first and second floors.

Updates will be posted as many more exciting changes take place and momentum picks up leading to the project’s completion late this year.  Please direct any questions to Troy Clements, Administrator at 765-675-8791.    

Significant progress has been made on the Tipton construction/renovation project over the past 6 weeks.  A complete facelift of the east side of the facility is nearly complete, with a reopening of the front entrance right around the corner.  The new parking lot has a first layer of pavement and will soon be striped.  A finish layer of pavement will be poured at the very end of the project.  The interior of this newly constructed front entrance consists of a large breezeway entrance, a new reception and sitting area, new public restrooms, new business office and media room, new offices for the Admissions Director, Administrator and Social Service Director, as well as a new quiet room for our residents and families.   Also opening will be the first of 2 new beautiful first-floor dining areas.  An apothecary can also be found in this dining area, but will not be fully functional until later in the project.  The new kitchen is completed and is fully operational with all new appliances and equipment.

The new laundry room construction is well underway and will be connected to the building when the therapy area is completed.  The large laundry area that will serve as an excellent environment for providing top-level laundry services to our residents.  We are upgrading from a 2 washer, 2 dryer operation to one that consists of 3 washers and 5 dryers.  This equipment upgrade, along with a much larger work area, will create an efficient and organized department. 

The Tipton construction/renovation project is really picking up steam.  Much progress has been made over the past 2 months and the facility’s transformation is happening at a very nice pace. 

The building’s front exterior has received a dramatic facelift boasting new vinyl siding with beautiful stone accenting, new windows, new roof and a completely new front entrance.  The new entrance and lobby area has a 2-story feel with plant ledges above on both sides.  There is also a cupola above the lobby, which allows sunlight to shine through during the day and show off as a beautiful night light to the outside at dark.  This front entrance is completely framed and will soon receive drywall and other finish work.  Once complete, with a new front parking lot and sidewalks also being added, this new front entrance will be opened.

In the courtyard, the new kitchen has been framed and roofed and will be fully functional with all new appliances and cook wares in the next 4-6 weeks.   We will also be pouring a new patio slab in the courtyard, which will support a beautiful new gazebo.

Construction of the first of two first floor dining rooms is also underway.  This dining room will also show off over-head plant ledges on both sides, beautiful wood-like flooring and tasteful décor throughout.  A new sound system is also being installed that will provide soft music in our dining areas, lobby areas, entrances, shower rooms and various other locations upstairs and down.  Near this first dining room, a small quietroom/chapel is also being added, which will serve as a nice, peaceful meditation room for our residents and their families. 

The floor of the new rehabilitation wing has recently been poured and construction of our state-of-the-art rehabilitation unit will soon be underway.  This is also the wing where we will put in a 19’ X 19” therapeutic pool, a geriatric-engineered exercise gym and men’s and women’s locker rooms.  These facilities will be open to the community.

As many of you have noticed, we have added a tunnel that connects our north and south units inside the facility.  These were added to provide a safe means of traversing back and forth through these units for our staff and residents, while construction workers continue performing their magic on both sides of the tunnel and overhead.  Another “cut-through” was also recently added in our main dining room.  This was constructed to provide a means of getting necessary equipment and materials into our courtyard area, while serving as a safe barrier for our staff and residents.  Once the courtyard construction is complete, this cut-through will be taken down.

Room renovations are also underway.  Four rooms on our north unit are complete and residents will soon be moving back in to them.  These rooms received new paint, chair rail, new doors, new lighting in the room and bathroom, new bathroom faucets and mirrors, new automatic soap dispensers, suspended ceilings, new windows and faux wood blinds.  New flooring and carpet will be added later in the project.  Our private rooms will also be receiving new flat-screen televisions mounted on the walls, at a later date.           

In the next couple of weeks, we will be moving our Alzheimer’s Unit to our newly renovated north hall.  This will allow us to provide a quieter and less “busy” environment for the residents residing on this unit, as the traffic through their halls will be greatly reduced.  This will also allow us to eliminate most of the keypad magnetic-locked doors throughout the rest of the facility, which will provide for quicker and easier passage for our residents, families and our staff.

One other recent improvement is that a new, attractive Miller’s Merry Manor sign was recently installed on the south side of our building.  It has a marquee that will allow us to communicate various messages to our visitors and the community.

The new roof line and gables have been constructed over our North and South wings and roofing materials have already been installed.  A new pad has been poured at our front entrance to make way for a new breezeway and front offices.  Construction of the new front entrance is to begin in the next couple of weeks. The new kitchen foundation has been poured in the courtyard and they have it framed and roofed.  The elevator shaft and new maintenance area is also being constructed in the courtyard at this time. 
A footer is about to be poured for the new rehabilitation wing and construction of this new unit will begin very soon.  They have also begun some internal remodeling of our resident rooms, beginning on the north wing.  Initially, these rooms are to receive new paint, chair rail, decorative lighting, suspended ceiling, new doors (entry, closet & bathroom), new countertops & new windows, as well as new bathroom lighting, mirrors and faucets.  New flooring will be installed later in the construction project.  They are currently working in 4 resident rooms at a time and will continue down the north hallway until these rooms are all complete.  Unfortunately, this is the time when our residents will be most affected as we must relocate everyone who lives in these rooms.  We are taking great care in these moves and will restore their room décor and belongings as they wish once they move back into a finished room.      
During the week of July 30^th, we will be moving our North/South wing nurses station across the hall to a lounge area, for a temporary period.  This is to make way for the new front entrance that is to be constructed very soon.
In the near future, we will be temporarily without a beauty shop.  Again, our existing beauty shop is in an area that is to be reconstructed.  Until our new beauty shop is constructed, provisions are being made to utilize the beauty shops at Autumnwood in Tipton Hospital as well as at Autumnwood Village Assisted Living.  We will provide transportation as needed. 

On June 15^th, construction of the 2-story addition to the Tipton location of Miller’s Merry Manor began and is currently in the early stages of Phase I of the project. This phase includes construction of the new rehabilitation unit, kitchen and Alzheimer’s Unit.

In addition, construction of new parking lots is in progress, and during this time visitors’ parking is located in the new lot on the west side of the facility next to the Doctors Park, while employees are parking at the Tipton Fairgrounds. A temporary main entrance has been designated on the south side of the facility near the visitors’ parking while the front parking lot and original main entrance are under construction. The business office, admissions office and front desk are also temporarily moved to areas near this main entrance. A “pass-through” has been created through two offices to allow construction workers to drive equipment into the courtyard, located in the center of the facility, the site of the new kitchen and maintenance areas, and elevator shaft. Doors with magnetic locks have been installed as barriers while this pass-through is in use.

On July 2^nd, construction began on new gables over the existing roof of the North Hall wing to create the new roof line. Along with this new roof, this wing will receive new siding, windows & shutters, as well as a remodel of the room interiors. The front main entrance construction is set to begin in the upcoming weeks.