Together for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony at Greenwood House in Ewing, are, from left, Jeffrey Perlman, Richard Goldstein, Richard Pollock, and Harold Zeltt. Photo by Marilyn Silverstein
May 06, 2008
Greenwood House has embarked upon a $1.7 million expansion project at its Ewing campus. The effort is designed to increase the agency’s accommodations even as it decreases its $1 million operating deficit.
The project will add six beds to the 132-bed Robert and Natalie Marcus Home for the Jewish Aged, according to Richard Goldstein, executive director of Greenwood House. It will also add five apartments — including four apartments for couples — to the 20-bed Abrams Residence, an assisted-living facility.
Plans also call for the expansion of dining facilities, construction of an outdoor patio with a gazebo, and improvements to the main entranceway of the nursing home.
“It’s not a tremendously large expansion, but we have waiting lists for both buildings, and this should ease the length of the waiting lists we’ve had,” Goldstein said.
“We have a $1 million operating deficit, and economies of scale will help to reduce our deficit,” he added. “So, financially, it’s a gain. This expansion will keep our heads from going under water.”
As he spoke, Goldstein was standing at the edge of what will be a new patio for residents. Nearby, heavy earthmovers stood at the ready.
Joining Goldstein there for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony were several of the agency’s lay leaders — Richard Pollock of Solebury, Pa., president of the board of Greenwood House; Jeffrey Perlman of Princeton, president of the Greenwood House Foundation; and Harold Zeltt of Yardley, Pa., chair of the building committee for the Greenwood House board.
Pollock said he sees the project as an important one.
“The demand is so great,” he said. “It gives us room to care for more people at the nursing home and the assisted-living facility, and we look forward to further expansion in the future.
“This was a community effort for us, and it brings everybody back in fund-raising mode,” Pollock added. “It’s a continuum of fund-raising for the home, and that fund-raising is necessary because this is a charity. This is purely a charity institution.”
Perlman said that planning for the project has taken two years of hard work on all sides.
“What we’re trying to do is to have as small a deficit as possible,” Perlman said. “The economies of scale are significant. By adding a few beds, we don’t have to add extra staff, so our deficit will be reduced by a nice amount. And when I say ‘nice amount,’ it’s approximately a reduction of $500,000 a year in the operating deficit. We’re basically cutting our deficit in half.”
Zeltt, who is overseeing the construction, said he expects the project to be completed within six to nine months.
“I think the extension of the Southside dining room is going to give us more room, and the additional rooms will add to our income,” he said.
“There’ll be an exit from the dining room onto the patio. We’re going to cover the ambulance entrance and update the main entranceway,” he said. “All in all, it’ll be a nice addition.”
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