News Archive | The Business Press, February 5, 2001 Regional Center will be One Size that Fits All HEALTH CARE Carl E. Rowe was a bit rattled by what he saw at some long-term care institutions while working as a state consultant 15 years ago. The lack of professionalism and poor conditions at some facilities, especially government-run operations, were an eye-opener for the former professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy. “I was appalled at what I saw,” he said, adding that he was disturbed by the limited staffing in some cases, and the miles that separated various services needed by patients. “They were using antiquated methods. It seemed as if we were looking at health care in the 1950s.” The observations sparked a dream within Rowe: to provide all-encompassing care at a single location to people of all ages - from disabled infants to elderly in need of skilled, consistent medical attention. The dream will become a reality on Feb. 23 at the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, when a groundbreaking ceremony kicks off construction of a nine-acre, $16 million Integrated Care Communities campus offering medical, dietary, social and other types of care. California Drug Consultants, of which Rowe is executive director, won the contract to build the campus in 1998. A management team at California Drug Consultants formed Integrated Care Communities LLC that year to handle the project. A 10-year old sister corporation that manages nine residential care facilities in Moreno Valley and Riverside, Developmental Client Care Industries, was moved under the ICC banner when the younger firm was created two years ago. The new project will be the firm’s first new facility. The initial idea for the Moreno Valley center sprang from Rowe’s visit in 19933 to the Masonic Home for Adults in the Bay Area community of Union City. The home provided comprehensive care for adults and even furnished a day care center for employees’ children. “I thought, this is a really brilliant concept,” Rowe said. Rowe got the chance to bring the idea to the Inland Empire when his firm was invited by the medical center to enter a competitive bidding process to build the campus on land adjacent to the hospital. He beat out such heavy hitters as Western Healthcare Consortium and Beverly Enterprises. The Integrated Care Communities project is funded by bond sales, most of them tax-exempt, and insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The first two phases of the four-part project include a four-building, 68-bed assisted living facility with a beauty shop, laundry services, a vegetable garden, housekeeping, and an Alzheimer’s care unit. The first phase will also include a child day care center open from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. that will include separate, medically supervised facilities for mildly ill children whose parents need to go to work, as well as care for disabled infants and children. The first two phases should be completed by fall. The third and fourth phases include a 60-bed skilled nursing facility and an 80-client adult day care health center. They are scheduled for completion by fall 2002. The 62,800-square foot campus will be located on the north side of East Hospital Road between Nason Street and the medical center. All told, it will consist of eight buildings and provide services for 180 long term clients, while creating 170 permanent full time positions, according to a statement from Integrated Care Communities LLC. The skilled nursing services will accept HMOs, private pay, Medical and Medi-Cal patients. The Adult Day Care facilities will receive clients covered by Medi-Cal, and the assisted-living facilities will accept only private pay clients. The child day care center will accept county welfare-to-work and other subsidy programs. Clients at the Integrated Care Communities campus will benefit from the nearby regional hospital, which will offer physician consultations and allow use of radiology and other labs. The five-year planning and design process involved the assistance of agencies such as the Office of Aging, the Riverside Child Day Care Consortium, and other, Rowe said. The child care facility will be named the Jan Peterson Child Day Care Center in honor of Peterson, a child day care specialist with the Riverside County Office of Education. Return to News Archive Main Menu