CareOne Seeks Variances For Third Senior Center

Representatives of , a provider of post-hospital care, rehabilitation, assisted living and long-term care, presented several variance requests to the Paramus Board of Adjustment recently, for a new facility to be built at 175-189 Paramus Road.  

CareOne, which is based in Fort Lee, currently operates two locations in Paramus; CareOne at The Cupola, which houses 150 residents at West 100 Ridgewood Avenue since 1999, and CareOne at Ridgewood Avenue.

Attorney for the applicant, Donna Erem from Wolff and Samson, PC, a regional law firm based in West Orange, said The Cupola has enjoyed a stellar reputation for the quality of care it provides. 

"It is constantly full and it has a wait list," said Erem.

CareOne has other locations throughout Bergen County, including New Milford, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Oradell, Teaneck, Westwood and Cresskill, and 30 locations throughout the state. 

CareOne currently admits and discharges more than 7,000 short-term patients and cares for more than 800 long-term residents in Bergen County. 

If preliminary and final site plans are approved, the applicant, 175 Paramus Road Real Estate LLC, will build a three-story building with a total of 120 units and 126 beds to be constructed in two phases.

Addressing the growing Alzheimer’s epidemic 

Tim Hodges, Chief Strategy Officer for CareOne, said the need for a dementia facility in Paramus boiled down to two main factors - understanding of the local market and the continuing rise of dementia patients locally and nationally.

"As you know the nation's aging population is increasing," said Hodges. "Today there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and most experts including the Alzheimer's Association will tell you, unfortunately, there is no cure in sight.”

Hodges said there are pharmacological interventions to delay the onset of progressed dementia in a small percentage of the population.

According to Hodges, more than 200,000 New Jersey residents live with Alzheimer's disease. Of those, one in eight is over 65, and nearly half of the population over 85 has Alzheimer's.   

Affects of recent laws on Alzheimer's

In addition to the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which contains provisions to help people with Alzheimer's disease, Hodges said a separate law enacted in January, The National Alzheimer's Plan, speaks to the need for facilities such as the one proposed, due to the stress expected on the health care system in the area over the next 20 years.  

Hodges said an estimated 70 percent of CareOne residents live within a 5-mile radius of their home.

"So the total estimated population within a 5-mile radius of Paramus who are living with Alzheimer's and dementia is 12,700 individuals," Hodges added. "There are potentially 5,100 people living within this community who can benefit from formalized care setting."              

Quick Facts: According to Alzheimer’s Association: 

• 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease.
• One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer's disease.
• Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

For more information visit the Alzheimer's Association online.