Work underway on Casa’s new skilled nursing facility

Demolition work has started on Casa de las Campanas’ employee parking lot so construction of its new skilled nursing facility can begin.

The facility will take at least 18 months to two years to complete, said Kimberly Dominy, Casa’s executive director.

Locals will be able to view the progress on the retirement facility’s 90,019-square-foot expansion since it is along West Bernardo Drive, across from Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Dominy said on Monday that work began last week. Employees are being shuttled from two off-site parking lots during the project’s duration. Casa has made arrangements for its employees to park at LifeBridge Church and The Point office complex. Both are on West Bernardo Drive, with the latter near the Rancho Bernardo Transit Center.

Casa is also leasing from the city the dirt lot with boulders that is just south of Casa so it can be used as a staging area for construction equipment and not impact West Bernardo Drive, Dominy said.

When the project is complete, she said employees will utilize its surface level parking lot, with the new building constructed on a stilts-like structure above it, making it three stories high, with patient care rooms, rehabilitation spaces and offices on the second and third levels.

Even though it is going onto an existing parking lot, once completed Casa will have 538 off-street parking spaces throughout the property, more than the required 449 parking spaces, according to officials.

Casa is building the new facility to adapt to the changing needs in its industry. It will be primarily used by those needing short-term rehabilitative care, such as that needed immediately after discharge from a hospital when the individual is not strong enough yet to go directly home, officials said.

Dominy said it is being built according to a “social model” instead of a “medical model.”

“Rather than a big nursing station, there will be a country kitchen with a big, long table that looks like it is in somebody’s home,” she said. “There will be a family room/activity space where (patients) can get themselves a snack. It will have a less clinical appearance.”

This new building is the second phase in the 28-year-old retirement community’s $100 million improvement project, according to officials.

Dominy said it will be at least two years before the third phase can begin — replacing the existing skilled nursing facility. It will be demolished to make room for additional assisted living and cognitive care units, but officials have yet to finalize plans.

“It will be for those needing cueing and reminders,” Dominy said. “They do not have as much physical need as cognitive need. There will also be additional apartments and underground parking.”

In the meantime, Casa’s more than 600 residents are enjoying at least one new amenity from the first phase. Dominy said Casa’s new 7,200-square-foot bistro, which offers a more casual option to Casa’s other two dining facilities, opened in late May and offers food 12 hours a day. “It is very popular,” she said.

In addition, work is “well underway” on Casa’s new fitness/wellness center. Construction began 2 1/2 months ago and it should be complete by January, she said.

The fitness/wellness center will be a 11,600-square-foot building within the complex. It will feature an indoor swimming pool — bringing the total number of pools at Casa to three — plus class exercise rooms and space for exercise equipment.

As for other renovations completed last year, they include a new salon, administration office, marketing office, renovations to Casa’s Sur Pool area and construction of a new meeting room adjacent to it.