Nonprofits Buckner and Baylor Scott and White are partnering at Ventana, Dallas’ first luxury senior living towers. The $140 million residential community opened last week, and includes other partnerships with Cooper Wellness Strategies and Chef Stephen Pyles as well.
The two twelve-story towers include 189 independent living apartments, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. There are one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that range from 950 to 2,000 square feet.
There is also a rehab facility with in house therapy team, three Stephen Pyles – inspired restaurants, an indoor heated pool, spa and salon, movie theater, and outdoor lounges. The restaurants range from a quicker bistro to formal dining. The gym is a partnership with Cooper Wellness Partners and includes training staff that perform fitness assessments and individualized workouts at different machines.
The skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care areas are broken down into smaller “houses” with around a dozen units, their own kitchen and social areas, and other amenities fit for that particular population. Displays and manipulatives on the memory care floor are meant to evoke the past, and skilled nursing has mechanical lifts to transport immobile residents from their bed to the shower without all the manpower.
The towers are integrated with Baylor Scott and White Health, with a BSW geriatrician who will be the medical director for long-term care and skilled nursing. BSW’s Signature Medicine program offers concierge services with same or next day appointments and 24/7 access to a physician. There are also BSW HouseCalls physicians, nurse practitioners, and physicians assistants who will travel to Ventana for patients who are unable to make the trip the office. BSW will also provide chaplain services for residents.
Chief Operating Officer at Baylor Scott and White Health John McWhorter says the integrated medical care will keep residents out of the hospital. A quarter of emergency department visits for this population are due to dehydration, syncope, or another condition that does not require the emergency room and can most likely be treated at home. The house call program can intercept those cases before they get to the ER. McWhorter also emphasized that Baylor’s MyBSWHealth app will integrate the family into the care of the resident. “They will have access to records, physicians notes on the house calls, and can check on their loved ones,” he says. “They feel like they are part of the care program.”
“Baylor Scott & White Health and Buckner both operate as not-for-profit ministries that serve, heal and strengthen the community,” said Chuck Childress, executive director, Ventana by Buckner via release. “Our members will enjoy health and wellness services as excellent as the community’s luxurious features and amenities.”
Buckner’s founder R.C. Buckner was one of the founders of Baylor University Medical Center, and this collaboration is a continuation of that relationship. Baylor and Buckner work together on everything from mission trips and donating medical equipment to assisting at a pregnancy crisis center.
“Because of our long history of collaboration and the fact Baylor Scott White is recognized as a healthcare leader in the Dallas market, working together on Ventana by Buckner was a natural collaboration,” Childress continued via statement. “During our planning stages for Ventana, Buckner Retirement Services reached out to BSWH with a proposal, and our MOU grew from there in order to provide our members with elite healthcare that they’ve already trusted in Dallas for years.”
