Private Rooms in Nursing Homes? Atlanta Nonprofit CEO Explains Why it’s a Big Deal
Thursday, April 6th, 2023
A.G. Rhodes, one of Atlanta’s oldest nonprofit organizations that operates three nursing homes in Cobb, Fulton and DeKalb counties, is transforming its Marietta location by constructing a new home and renovating its existing building to include private room accommodations for each resident. The transformation is part of the organization’s $37.5 million Legacy of Care capital campaign to create a new nursing home community accessible to those who are uninsured, underinsured and underserved, and that can be replicated throughout Atlanta, Georgia and across the nation.
“The antiquated nursing home model where most residents share rooms is not only undesirable, it’s unacceptable,” said A.G. Rhodes CEO Deke Cateau. “But because the majority of nursing home residents are reliant on Medicaid funding—which doesn’t cover the true cost of care let along private room accommodations—most of our nation’s nursing homes simply don’t have the funds for that kind of major reconstruction given current government reimbursements and regulations.”
As one of only a few nonprofit nursing home providers in the state, A.G. Rhodes uses fundraising as one way to supplement the cost of resident care and other initiatives that Medicaid doesn’t cover—such as its Legacy of Care campaign— to greatly enhance the quality of life for its residents. Through the leadership of its Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors, A.G. Rhodes has raised a large portion of its construction costs through philanthropy. Construction of the new building and renovations to the existing one are well underway and are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“With nearly 120 years of operating in Atlanta, A.G. Rhodes has long relied on the generosity of our community to equip us with additional resources to provide exceptional care for our community’s most in need,” said David Perdue, Chair of the A.G. Rhodes Board of Trustees and great-great grandson of Amos Giles Rhodes, the organization’s namesake.
Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services organizations, says that COVID-19 has highlighted the urgency for systemic changes throughout aging services, including private room accommodations in nursing homes.
“COVID-19 brought to the forefront the critical infrastructure changes needed to protect our nation’s most vulnerable and underserved. While these changes won’t happen overnight, A.G. Rhodes is demonstrating how nursing home communities throughout the U.S. can be designed to nurture the health, safety and wellbeing of older adults who need and deserve high-quality care and dignity as they age,” Sloan said.
Founded in 1904, A.G. Rhodes provides long-term and short-term care for more than 1,100 residents a year at its three locations.
