Scandia Village Transfer Delayed

An aerial view of the Scandia Village campus in 2021. File photo.

Scandia Village will soon have a new operator, but how soon is still in question. 

In September it was announced that Stone Bridge Health Care had purchased the retirement center and long-term care facility that is home to about 13% of Sister Bay’s population, and is the village’s largest employer. 

The 150-unit campus includes 18 independent-living homes in the Villas, 58 units in the Meadows independent-living apartments, 24 units in the Woodview assisted-living complex, and 50 units in the 24-hour skilled-nursing facility. 

Stone Bridge is a holding company, and Continuum Healthcare, a company based in northern New Jersey, will be the new operator of the center, according to Tim Hodges, director of communications for Continuum. 

That was originally expected to take place Dec. 1, but Hodges said administrative and licensing delays have pushed that date back, probably after the first of the year.

“I’ve been through many of these transitions and there are often delays,” Hodges said.

Hodges confirmed that Stone Bridge Healthcare is a holding company for the transaction and Continuum will be the operators. As of mid-November, Continuum had not decided on the operating name of the facility. 

“Our operating history is that we aim to keep the community as little changed as possible,” Hodges said. “We want the transition to be seamless.”

He said he has made one visit to the site so far and felt the pride in the facility from residents and community members.

“I was out myself in the community and the spirit and vibrancy of the community is very palpable,” he said. “There is a great desire to move the campus forward and that was exciting.”

In addition to the operations of the health care facility, there are questions about what will happen to Bargains Unlimited, the nonprofit resale store that has contributed more than $6 million to Scandia Village over the years. Bargains Unlimited operates as a separate nonprofit, but the building it operates out of is owned by Good Samaritan.

“We haven’t been told a thing yet,” said Kristine Kordon, the store’s manager. “We don’t have a lease; it has always been a handshake sort of agreement. But I have no idea what the future is now.”

Hodges declined to disclose the purchase price it agreed to for Scandia Village. Hodges said Continuum operates seven long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

“We’re a smaller organization so we’re very hands-on with our management,” he said, in contrast to Good Samaritan. “Our goal when we acquire facilities is to improve it and make it better.”

Scandia Village was attractive to Continuum because it is a facility with multiple levels of care – short-term, long-term and residential – and Hodges said those don’t come available every day. 

“That’s very appealing to us and where the industry is headed,” Hodges said. “In many parts of the country that’s still a burgeoning new concept.”

Scandia Village has seen an exodus of many long-term staff members in recent years and increasingly relies on short-term, contract nurses to staff the facility. Hodges said Continuum is aware of that and one of his first priorities is to find out why employees left and then how to bring them back. 

“Finding new team members can be in vain because everybody is looking for that same employee,” Hodges said. “This is a nationwide focus now to attract people back to the senior care industry. So you want to understand why people have left and make an attempt to bring them back if there’s something we can change and make better.”