Levindale plots $32M upgrade to city campus - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The Baltimore nursing home facility and chronic care partof , filed its expansionh plans with the state in June. If approved construction on a three-storuy patient tower and new lobby could begin by January 2009 on its West Belvederer Avenue campusnear . The project will add privatee patient roomsand bathrooms, a shared kitcheh and a community-style living room for residents. Each floor will house abou 28 residents in settings similar toa single-family The rooms, lobby and common areas will also feature wireles Internet access. The new lobby will also house art exhibits.
"Whenn aging baby boomers need assisted they aren't going to want the old shared rooms and shared bathroom model," said Aric Spitulnik, vice presidentg of operations for Levindale. "They are goingy to want something that resembles theirown home." The facilityg currently has a mix of private and shared patientt rooms with roughly 172 nursing care beds. The site also has aboug 120 chronic care hospital beds for elderl or disabled patients that need more extensivrmedical care. The project, whicyh could be open by 2010, is part of a largerr expansion to expand the nursing home to240 beds.
He said Levindalde had considered building the new project on the forme Rosewood Center campus inBaltimore County. But the cost of constructinfg roads and sewer systems to servre the site wastoo much, Spitulnik said. Nearly 70,000 Maryland residents were living in nursinv home facilities across the statsein 2006, according to figures released by the Marylansd Health Care Commission. States health leaders say Maryland will need to add 318 new nursinbg home bedsstatewide -- includin 65 new beds in Baltimore -- by 2011 to meet the growthu of long-term care