Struthers nursing home completes $2 million expansion and renovation project

January 18, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

Struthers nursing facility completes $2 million project

By EMMALEE C. TORISK

STRUTHERS

Though Maplecrest Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center recently completed a $2 million expansion and renovation project, which included a boost in beds from 48 to 55, its owners are positive that the family-like care they’ve long offered to residents is one aspect that won’t ever change — no matter how much their facility grows.

“We offer the same services that the larger, better-known facilities offer, but we provide on a more personal level,” said Lisa Daprile, who has owned the facility with her husband, Chris Daprile, since 1997. “We know these people inside and out. We know what’s going on in their lives. We know their families, their kids.”

The Dapriles embarked upon the facility’s first expansion just a year after acquiring it from the Creed family, who opened the nursing home in 1966. This project included its transition from a mostly privately paid facility to one that accepts a multitude of insurance providers.

But for the past five years, the Dapriles had felt the need to expand once again, both to make some necessary updates to the facility at 400 Sexton St. and to provide for further growth there. They drafted plans shortly after realizing this need, then acquired the land necessary for the expansion they envisioned about two or three years ago.

This project — the construction for which began in April and is now mostly complete, save for a few “loose ends” that need to be tied up, Chris Daprile said — features the addition of a 10,000-square-foot skilled-nursing and rehabilitation wing. This wing consists of a therapy gym along with four private rooms, two semi-private bariatric rooms and six semi-private rooms.

Much of the facility’s existing space also was renovated, creating a new lobby, activity room, nursing services office, beauty salon, conference room — and even an enclosed courtyard and expanded parking lot.

“We’re proud of our care,” said Lisa Daprile, “and now, we have an enhanced environment to provide it in.”

But along with those changes, Maplecrest also transitioned to an electronic medical-records system that the Dapriles said will help continue to enhance the facility’s quality of services.

Maplecrest’s short- and long-term rehabilitation and nursing services now include physical, occupational and speech therapy; Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care; hospice care; and respite care, said Terri Sebastiano, director of nursing services for Maplecrest.

“We’d like to continue meeting the needs of people within the community,” Sebastiano said. “As we grow clinically, we’ll definitely maintain the foundation that we have: respect for residents and their dignity.”

Throughout the expansion and renovation project, Lisa and Chris Daprile made sure to ask for input from the facility’s more than 50 employees, as well as from residents and their families. As a way of making the space feel more like home, for example, walls of the activity room have been decorated with historical photos of the city, including snapshots of the old Struthers High School and the long-gone city pool on Wetmore Drive fondly known as “the Birdbath.”

In addition, the spacious lobby includes a photo and a painting of the original Lyon-Creed family house on the property, which today is occupied by the facility’s dining room and kitchen, along with administrative offices.

The fact that Maplecrest is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, not on a busy street, helps to make the facility — which boasts longevity with employees and residents alike — more welcoming, as well.

Lisa Daprile noted that the facility soon will feature a display exploring the history of Mill Creek Park, which will serve as another way Maplecrest strives to connect with the community in which it’s located.

And it already does so, both as an employer of numerous area residents and as a place where community members can come together. For instance, students from Cardinal Mooney and Struthers high schools often visit and spend time with the residents, as do members of various organizations such as Girl Scout troops and church societies.

“We feel very fortunate we’re able to make a living here,” Lisa Daprile said.

“We’re an anchor business,” added Chris Daprile. “We’ve been here, and we have no plans to uproot or go anywhere. We’re committed to the area.”