It’s an event more than four years in the making. The groundbreaking ceremony for Mesa View Senior Living took place Wednesday morning at the site located west of the Mesa View Assisted Living facility. Officials, staff, and residents from Hemphill County Hospital, Edward Abraham Memorial Home, Mesa View Assisted Living, representatives of the construction crews, as well as community members, were on hand to christen the project—more than 60 people in all.

The $13.8 million bond issue for the senior living facility was approved by voters in May 2017. The hospital district had taken over the operation of EAMH in January 2015, after a year of negotiation. At the time, the district was considering a five-phase renovation of the hospital, but had to scale it down because the estimated cost was too high. Major changes also were being considered for the nursing home, which had many structural issues. Since 2015, the district has spent $370,000 in repairs on the facility, and $190,000 in capital improvements.

When the process began for building a new nursing home, the HCH administration opted for a household model, making several trips to visit facilities constructed on that model. In December 2017, the district’s terminated its contract with architectural firm, Parkhill, Smith & Cooper when the bids came in $1.5 million over the bond issue figure. In November 2018, the district paid a settlement of $425,000 to PSC, and in February of 2018 hired Action Pact as the new architects. The firm specializes in the household model.

At the groundbreaking, HCH CEO Christy Francis said of Action Pact, “I don’t exactly know where we’d be if we had not had the opportunity to run into this company. They’ve made a true impact on what this nursing home is going to look like. We are going to be one of the first ones in the state of Texas to have a household model nursing home.”

In January of this year, the district approved the bid of SCI Construction of Tyler for the building of the four-building complex. Hospital district officials hoped to break ground earlier in the year, but ran into delays in the sale of the general obligation bonds. The completion date for construction is 365 days from the date of the groundbreaking.

The four structures making up the complex will be the community building, called Heritage Valley; building No. 1, called Prairie House; building No. 2, called Sunset View; and building No. 3, called Cottonwood Place. One of the units will be for memory care residents.

The weather was perfect Wednesday morning for the groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the new Mesa View Senior Living, on a site west of the Mesa View Assisted Living facility. Officials and staff of Hemphill County Hospital, Mesa View Assisted Living, and Edwarrd Abraham Memorial Home, HCH board members, EAMH residents, and community members gathered at the corner of the construction site after a reception at the assisted living center. Manning the golden shovels were (left to right): Chris Cole, chief development officer for Action Pact, the architectural firm for the project; Terrell Thomas, director of the Edward Abraham Memorial Home; Christy Francis, CEO of Hemphill County Hospital; Cory Pittman, HCH board president; Karen Gullett, board member; Michelle Adcock, DON at EAMH; Mike Gardiner, board member; EAMH resident Billy Hunt (who won the drawing at the nursing home for his place with the groundbreaking shovel line-up); Debra Sappenfield, chief clinical officer; board member Sharon Carr; and Bob Ericson, CFO of HCH.

PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN | THE RECORD