PINE GROVE - Providence Place Senior Living has opened a second personal care home in Schuylkill County, buying an existing one this week in Pine Grove Township.
"We ... found it to be a good fit with our business," Ashley Uhler, vice president of marketing, said Thursday of the company's purchase of the former Waterbridge at Pine Grove Personal Care Home, which now will be known as Providence Place of Pine Grove.
The Pine Grove home at 24 Hikes Hollow Road will be the company's fifth, joining ones in Pottsville, Chambersburg, Dover and Drums.
"We're a small, local company with plans for expansion," Uhler said of the Hummelstown-based firm that was started in 1998 by George M. Leader, a former governor from York County.
Providence Place of Pine Grove Associates, a partnership affiliated with the main company, bought the 4.129-acre property from Health Solutions General Partnership, Pine Grove, for $1,939,143, according to the deed recorded Tuesday in Pottsville. The property is located off Route 443 approximately a mile southwest of Pine Grove and less than a mile from the Interstate 81 interchange.
About 45 people live at the home, Executive Director Betty Carroll said Thursday.
Uhler said the company has plans to improve the property.
"We're undertaking renovations to the interior of the building," she said. "We are recarpeting. We are painting and wallpapering the entire building. We are purchasing new furnishings."
Although the company does not plan to expand the building, Uhler said the improvements will not be limited to its interior.
"We hope to build a walking trail for the residents around the building," she said.
Lisa Allen, human resources manager, said Providence Place has made job offers to 27 former Waterbridge employees and plans to add 10 new positions in the nursing, housekeeping and dining departments.
Uhler said that should provide better programming for residents, including more activities and better dining.
The purchase already has provided a significant financial benefit to the area, as the recording of the deed resulted in payment of $19,391.43 in transfer taxes to the state, $9,685.72 in transfer taxes to Pine Grove Area School District and $9,695.71 in transfer taxes to the township.
