New model of assisted living home opening in Victor

VICTOR, N.Y. (WHEC) — If you have a loved one who may soon need assisted living, there is a new option in town to consider. Poole Senior Living identifies as a boutique-style assisted living facility in a home-like setting. The model of care is somewhat new in the region and one that many families may find appealing if they can afford it.

Years ago, Alyssa Pooley’s grandfather was in a nursing home and the experience has always bothered her.

“Being in a bigger facility, it was hard [for them] to be able to give him the sort of attention that he needed,” she recalled.

That’s why she and her husband decided to do something they felt would help other families avoid that feeling.

They built and will soon open an assisted living home in Victor.

“We wanted to keep it very small so that people can feel like, even though they have to move out of their own home, they can still have an option of moving into another type of home where they feel that family connection,” she explained.

The home has 10 private bedrooms and residents will get all the bells and whistles.

“It includes room, it includes the care… we help with bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, it includes three meals a day, snacks throughout the day and all the utilities,” Pooley explained.

Walking through the home, visitors get the feel of a college suit and Pooley says that’s on purpose.

“We want people to treat it like a bedroom where they sleep in it at night and then they’re out here and in the great rooms, they’re out here in the common living spaces and enjoying and participating in that social engagement because that’s huge, huge for anybody especially the older population,” Pooley said.

Due to the pandemic, many families are delaying consideration of a nursing home or assisted living facility, worried about future lockdowns.

“Given that we are a smaller home, we have a little bit more leeway I would say as far as letting visitors in and being able to visit with people from the outside,” Pooley said.

Of course, the big question is price.

“[There are] different price points for the different types of rooms that are available,” Pooley said, but it ranges from $4-$5,000 per month.

To make this model work, the Pooleys won’t be taking Medicare or Medicaid.

“If people had gotten long-term care insurance in the past then they could apply that to the expenses to live here but other than that it would be private pay,” she said.

The Pooleys are considering expanding this model, building future homes in other parts of the region.

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