A Jacksonville senior living center is under new ownership. Lavender Ridge on West Walnut Avenue is now Stone Bridge Memory Care of Jacksonville. The Missouri company acquired Lavender Ridge in May.
Administrator Erich Marks with Stone Bridge says they wanted to complete the transition before officially announcing the change and putting up the new sign.
He says Stone Bridge is a good company that still gives the family feels to care at the facility. “Stone Bridge is a company that was founded by Gloria Lieberman who is the mother of the current owner Mark Lieberman. So this is a company that goes back fifty years.
She worked in healthcare, was a nurse, was an administrator in a long-term care facility, and they really have a very very similar feel to what we have had at Lavender Ridge.”
Marks says even though the name and ownership have changed at the facility, not much else has from what Jacksonville families are used to experiencing. “In this day and age, finding a company that is family-owned, especially in healthcare is just a rarity. A lot of times as an administrator or even just the employees of the company, when you see that you are changing ownership, in healthcare that can be pretty scary.
Because usually, that means less services, less care, and that is the absolute opposite of what happened here. This is a wonderful company and everyone that I’ve worked with has been just great pleasant people and I think it’s actually a positive change.”
Marks says there will not be any staffing changes at Stone Bridge. He says they have more staff on hand than the normal memory care center because they have found over time that people with cognitive deficits require more staff time than people who just need the physical help, if a memory care center is doing its job the right way.
The facility has 28 private studio-style apartments and residents can bring their own furniture with them so it feels like home. Marks says they currently have two apartment openings. To set up a tour, you can call Stone Bridge at 217-243-8550.