Cedar Cliff was opened in 1929 as a tuberculosis sanitarium.
In Two Thousand & Nine Construction of
the new wing at the county nursing home is now finished and awaiting final
safety inspection by the state. Should the building pass the inspection,
residents are expected to begin moving into the wing within four to six weeks.
The new facility, which has been under construction for three years, is
meant to replace two Depression-era buildings that are overcrowded, dank, and
cheerless. The goal has been to bring all of 342 current residents under one roof
and to create enough space so that the Nursing Home can expand the number of
beds to 406.
Cedar Cliff provides both long-term and short-term care for both the
indigent elderly and people with a variety of disabilities, including Multiple Sclerosis.
In the old buildings, some residents are currently living four to a room
and sharing community bathrooms that are not accessible to the handicapped;
such residents must be assisted onto toilets. The dining room is a cramped,
drab place, with room for about a half-dozen card tables with metal folding
chairs.
By contrast, the residence rooms in the new wing are bright and
pastel-colored and will be occupied by no more than two people per room. Each
room has its own wheelchair-accessible bathroom and the beds are separated by a
wall, which allows a resident to control the temperature on their side of the
room. The dining room is now a big, wide-open space that invites residents to
congregate.
As for the Old Building, The Fate is Unknown.
