Supporters gather for dedication of HallMar Village senior living community

As supporters and staff gathered Thursday, Nov. 2 for a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony for the HallMar Village senior living community on the north edge of Cedar Rapids, officials stressed the importance of such facilities for a rapidly-growing senior population. “It is truly inspirational,” said Al Ruffalo, president of the MercyCare Board of Trustees. “We’ve all read the statistics about the population aging … and we're going to need more and more facilities like this in Linn County and Cedar Rapids. We’ve really hit the spot in developing this building.” The 237-unit facility, situated on 42 acres along C Avenue NE just north of East Robins Road, is a joint venture by Mercy Medical Center and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota-based Presbyterian Homes & Services. Senior Housing Partners served as the project’s developer. The project was first announced in 2020. Construction began in June 2021 and was substantially completed this year. HallMar Village currently houses nearly 100 residents, campus administrator Jenna Gardner said at Thursday’s dedication.

HallMar Village replaced the former 55-bed HallMar nursing home facility on Mercy’s main campus in Cedar Rapids, which was originally opened in 1960. HallMar’s residents moved to the new HallMar Village in late September, and officials repeatedly referenced the change as a “transition” from HallMar to HallMar Village. Presbyterian Homes vice president of affiliate partnerships Duane Larson said at Thursday’s ceremony that the partnership that brought HallMar Village to fruition is an extension of both organizations’ faith-based mission. “We are an extension of family for people that in many times are vulnerable, and we're allowed into this sacred and holy and intimate caregiving mode,” he said. “So we develop relationships, and Presbyterian Homes has been founded upon that. And that's where we found early conversations in 2018 and 2019, when we took bus tours of different areas, we got to meet each other’s senior leadership. The origins of how Mercy Hospital talked about the tie to the Sisters of Mercy was the same passion that Presbyterian Holmes was talking about, how we honor God through the gospel, lived out every day and made real. We're just very honored to be a partner.” HallMar Village offers arrangements across the spectrum of care, from senior apartments and assisted living to memory care and 24-hour skilled nursing care. The development includes 117 independent living apartments, 40 assisted living apartments, 20 memory care apartments and 40 skilled nursing care suites. HallMar Village currently houses nearly 100 residents, campus administrator Jenna Gardner said at Thursday’s dedication, but about half of the development's units have already been reserved. The development is anchored by the Village Center, with amenities such as dining options that include both restaurant and bistro-style facilities, a library, health and wellness center, pool, community room, club room, golf simulator, salon and spa, art studio, movie theater and woodworking shop. A small market is also available for purchase of sundries, and common areas around the facility are designed for gatherings of various sizes. Outdoor features include patios, courtyards, gardening spaces and walking trails. HallMar Village also incorporates the 23,000-square-foot Chris and Suzy DeWolf Family Center for Aging and Dementia, housed in the former Echo Hill Presbyterian Church building on the HallMar Village campus, where support services will be provided for people with dementia, their care partners and their families. “This is a really unique opportunity for us,” Mercy Medical Center president and CEO Dr. Timothy Quinn said, “because it's the only place in the U.S that we've ever heard of that is dedicated to transforming lives and the way that we age well. And our hope is to use innovative ways to keep people in their homes, to fulfill lives as they're in communities and to reinvigorate how we view aging as a society and what we do with our lives.” Services at the center will include the Mercy Center for Memory Health and the Family Caregivers Center, as well as an Age & Dementia Friendly Smart Show Room, featuring kiosks with products and information to enhance the lives of older adults and those living with dementia, and dedicated clinic space for ongoing care for residents of the facility and the larger community as needed.