LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A Lancaster-based senior care facility will soon be breaking ground on a new memory care center.

Willow Valley Communities, located at 450 Willow Valley Lakes Drive in Lancaster County, recently announced that they will soon be breaking ground on a new memory care center. The new center will be designed to support individuals with neurodegenerative diseases by focusing on:

• Specialized programming

• Research

• Prevention

• Assessment

• Treatment

• Education

“We are delighted to be on the forefront of this important endeavor. We look forward to achieving our goal of caring for those experiencing dementia, as well as being on the cusp of groundbreaking research to someday cure this insidious disease,” Craig D. Thompson, President & Chief Operating Officer of Willow Valley Living, the management company for
Willow Valley Communities said.

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According to Willow Valley Communities, plans for the new memory care center first began back in 2017 when officials with the company began visiting 32 benchmark memory care centers across the U.S. and the world.

During this time, Willow Valley Communities Charitable Foundation raised over $20 million to go towards the building and operating costs of the memory care center.

The new memory care center at Willow Valley Communities will officially break ground on Wednesday, April 17. As part of this new construction, 14 households with 10 private bedrooms along with the amenities of a typical home will be constructed around a ‘Commons’ building.

Other features will consist of an on-campus Brain Tech Center, which will aim to further research through self-assessment brain games, self-guided education, brain-healthy meals, and a resource center.

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Furthermore, Willow Valley Communities says that future residents will be free to explore the entire seven-acre Memory Care campus, which will boast a grocery store, bakery, ice cream shop, sit-down restaurant, dance and fitness studio, meditation room, salon and spa, performance stage, greenhouse, and an expansive outdoor courtyard.

It is important to note that the design firm for the new center will be NORD Architects, which is based out of Copenhagen, Denmark.

“NORD is known for its architecturally groundbreaking and eye-catching designs, but its aim is to create recognizable spaces within a community in which residents can grow together as a family and feel safe,” John G. Swanson, CEO of Willow Valley Development Corp., developer of the new Memory Care Center said.

Willow Valley Communities expects to open the new center at some point in 2025.

The new center will be named The Marlin and Doris Thomas Memory Center, after the founder of Willow Valley Communities.

For more information, you can visit Willow Valley Communities’ website by clicking here.

abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

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