“Approximately 40 interested Yumans showed up this morning to watch ground-breaking ceremonies for the new Yuma County Nursing Home,” according to the Yuma Daily Sun on August 26^th, 1964. 80 patients made the move to their new home on school buses the February following.

It was a $500,000 building then – with a lot of excitement surrounding it. 46 years later, about 3.5 million dollars will have been invested in renovating the 40,000-square-foot Palm View facility, commencing in December of 2010 and continuing into the fall of 2011.

After the renovation, architecture and décor will be reminiscent of Tuscany, Italy. Home to Michelangelo, da Vinci and the like, Tuscany is known for its rich artistic legacy, beautiful landscapes and vast influence on high culture. Seniors may believe for a moment that they are checking into their summer bed and breakfast along the Mediterranean rather than into a nursing home. With Spanish architectural curvatures, earthy tones and dark-wooded carved furniture, the new Palm View is more comparable to a vacation than a nursing home!

Thanks to John Surprenant, John Fulton and JMS builders, resident rooms will have all new furniture and the entire facility will promulgate new floors and fresh paint. The showers will have been completely renovated and so will all nursing stations with new cabinetry and counter tops.

The new structure will allow for more and better-realized services. The former annex will be demolished and the new 7,555-square-foot annex building, in addition to housing a new rehabilitation center, will house the business office, a training classroom and the employee lounge.

Several other staff offices throughout the facility will have been completely renovated with custom cabinets and counter tops. The main dining room will be the “Grand Room” of the facility which will include stain grade red oak trim throughout with new lighting, electronics, paint and flooring. Major electrical and phone systems will be upgraded and data repairs made. Furthermore, a new storage and maintenance shop, new admissions office and a new entrance are in sight which will accommodate a covered drive and portico, new signage, parking lot and an entry that will impart warmth and welcome.

The facility will accommodate 143 Medicare and Medicaid certified beds and also employ 143. Palm View will continue to offer rehabilitation therapy, certified dementia care, certified wound care, chronic disease self management programs and maintain a separate post acute unit for patients who have plans to return home. In addition to these services, out patient therapy will be offered, enabling the facility to support the large demand in the Yuma market.