Published June 2003

Everett Plaza’s new wing
to offer dementia care

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Everett Plaza, an assisted-living community for seniors, has expanded its range of services with the completion of its Memory Care Wing.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN A private, fenced courtyard is part of Everett Plaza’s new Memory Care Wing, designed to care for residents who have been diagnosed with varying forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s. The addition includes 21 apartments as well as a dining room.

The new wing, located on the south side of the building’s main entrance, was completed in May and has 21 apartments geared specifically toward providing care for those who have been diagnosed with dementia, said Art Collins, marketing director for the facility. That is in addition to Everett Plaza’s 78 units of assisted-living studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments located at 2204 12th St. in Everett.

Officials at Everett Plaza said the new wing will help fill the gap in dementia care in north Everett, a gap that is growing along with the cases of Alzheimer’s, a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, and the most common form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

In Washington state, more than 100,000 residents have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the association reports, and nationwide, about 4 million people suffer from the disease.

What sets the wing apart from the rest of Everett Plaza’s assisted-living facility is its lockdown setting, with fenced courtyards, and locked gates and doors that operate on a keypad system. The tools are essential for the security of residents in advanced stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s, when wandering becomes an issue, Collins said.

“For their safety, they have to be in a facility where they can’t get out,” Collins said. There also will be a higher staff-to-resident ratio to meet the higher level of care required for Memory Care residents.

The wing itself is a welcoming place, with a hunter green and maroon color scheme, floral and landscape prints hanging from the hallway walls, and a private, fenced courtyard complete with benches and patio tables.

Apartment units in the wing include private toilets and sinks. Memory Care residents will have access to a communal showering facility, Collins said.

Cost for dementia care, with its higher security and staffing needs, is more expensive than Everett Plaza’s assisted-living care, which starts at $1,575 per month, Collins said, noting that the dementia care will start at $3,400 per month. The facility does accept a certain number of residents subsidized by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Cost for the assisted-living and dementia care includes housekeeping, meals, all utilities except phone and planned activities, among other amenities, he said.

According to John LeClerc, Everett Plaza administrator, the first residents will be moving into the Memory Care Wing as soon as the state certification process is completed. As yet, no timetable has been set for that to occur.

Everett Plaza’s new wing joins more than a dozen other Alzheimer’s and dementia care facilities in Snohomish County.

The cost of the project was about $250,000, LeClerc said. MSJ Construction was the general contractor.

For more information on Everett Plaza’s Memory Care Wing, call 425-258-6408.

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