CareOne Seeks Variances For Third Senior Center

Representatives of CareOne, a provider of post-hospital care, rehabilitation, assisted living, and long-term care, presented several variance requests to the Paramus Board of Adjustments Thursday night, 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, Cresskill, and Wayne. They currently have 30 locations throughout the state. 

CareOne currently admits and discharges over 7,000 short-term patients and cares for over 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.

The current maximum building height permitted in the residential zone is 20 feet. CareOne is seeking 52.7 feet. The applicant seeks 77 parking spaces where 63 are required. 

Dementia facilities are currently a permitted conditional use in the Borough's R100 zone where the proposed site would be located. The applicant also seeks variances for signs, site lighting and other bulk variances.

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, over 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 upholding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday, 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 by the applicant, due to the stress expected onto 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."              

In the next part, we'll highlight existing conditions and proposed improvements for the site, the design of the proposed facility, how it would operate, and the potential impact on neighbors and the community. 

The next meeting for the applicant is scheduled for Aug 16, 7:30pm, at Borough Hall in the Caucus Room on the lower level. 

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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: ALZ.org