Greenfield nursing home celebrates its 50th birthday

Fifty years looks pretty good on Greenfield Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. The facility celebrated that milestone with a party Wednesday, Oct. 11 at lunchtime.

Administrator Bo Geidel said she and other staff were looking through history books and pictures, and they discovered the facility first opened in 1973. Formerly known as the Greenfield Manor, it has been owned by Roger and Arlene Hinz since January 1990. Originally it was opened and operated by a group of local investors.

The 50th anniversary included burgers and hot dogs, live music by Creston musician Blind Dog Buckley and Scratch cupcakes.

“It’s been fun to hear about different people who have lived here and their experiences here,” Geidel said. “We were going through old photo albums, so seeing how they did things differently then than we do now has been fun to go through.”

The doors of the new nursing home opened with 24 residents and a staff of a registered nurse, two licensed practical nurses and 10 aids, then-administrator James Piper told the Adair County Free Press. Mrs. R.R. Winders was Piper’s secretary and receptionist and Mary A. Barr was activities director. Don Harris was building custodian and other people made up the rest of the staff.

A Sunday afternoon open house was held when the facility opened. Various groups from around Adair County donated items like lap robes and puzzles to the facility when it started.

Geidel reports that now, the nursing home and assisted living addition are both operating well. Collectively, they have about 65 residents who are taken care of by a dedicated staff, comprised of some who have worked there more than two or three decades.

“In our findings, we found the assisted living addition was built in 1999,” Geidel said. The assisted living apartments have a waiting list.

Recovering from the pandemic and building staffing back up have been key components to the success Greenfield Rehabilitation and Health Care Center has experienced over the last few years.

“We have a really good team and strong leadership. We have a lot of longevity,” Geidel said. “We’ve just been trying to build up the team after COVID. Overall, our census is doing really well and we stay pretty full.”

Geidel explained that the center’s rating has improved from two stars to four stars in recent months. Her short term goal is for it to max out at five stars sometime soon. These ratings are given by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

“Being viable in this market is super hard with the cost of supplies, cost of labor and inflation from COVID,” Geidel said. “Maintaining occupancy, building a good team and providing quality care continue to be our goals.”