Chateau de Notre Dame to open memory care wing

By Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald
Photos by Frank J. Methe, Clarion Herald

As the demand increases for providing care for those with Alzheimer’s disease, Chateau de Notre Dame will open later this month a new, 13-bed wing offering memory care services, said Chateau’s chief executive officer Wayne Plaisance.

“We’re ready to open,” Plaisance said last week. “There’s a strong indication that (health providers) will want to admit here.”

The wing will offer 13 additional private-care beds that will be available to people regardless of their ability to pay, Plaisance said.

“We have so many people who desperately need memory care but don’t have the financial resources,” Plaisance said. “We are able at Chateau to admit people regardless of the payer source. If a person has Medicaid, we can do that.”

Privacy and plenty of space

Plaisance said one of the requirements of offering quality memory care is giving each person his or her own room.

The newly equipped rooms are spacious, with plenty of space to display family pictures and other mementos or other personal items.

“This is something the Catholic community can be very proud of,” Plaisance said. “It is designed to serve people who are ‘sundowning’ and who are experiencing ‘elopement’ risk. Sundowning is when people are anxious and want to leave their home. You have to know how to deal with the sundowning problem, and we will have good programming.

“These individuals need assistance in their daily activities. We are seeing more and more people with Alzheimer’s disease.”

For more information on the memory care program at Chateau de Notre Dame, call 866-2741 and ask for Anita Burns.