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GROVES — Multi-million dollars in construction and upgrades are on the way for Oak Grove Nursing Home.

Owners are adding a new therapy wing with state-of-the-art equipment, thus doubling the square footage.

The cost comes in at $8 million for the new construction, Administrator Daniel Duplechin said. The price will increase with the addition of furniture and equipment.

The new therapy wing has been on the drawing board for a while but was paused due to COVID and the increase in costs for building materials. The original plans included two new wings, but due to cost, that part of the plan was dropped.

Duplechin said that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future.

The new therapy area will include more than standard equipment. It will also include a kitchen area where therapists can work with patients on skills they would be using when they return home, and there will be a brand new therapy gym.

There will also be additional private rooms added that will have a full bathroom, kitchenette and patio. Inside the building, the lobby will feature Hill County-like look and a movie theater area.

Duplechin said the facility has always provided good care and now, with the new construction, have an updated building to do it in.

The people receiving therapy there will be completely separate from the rest of the nursing home.

“A lot of people don’t want to go to a nursing home to get therapy and mix in with nursing home residents,” Duplechin said.

The owners are also renovating the hallways.

The facility has a central nurses area like the hub of a wagon wheel. Hallways lead out in different directions from the hub and are visible from the nurses’ area.

Each of the halls and resident rooms will get updated.

“We’re going to take it one area at a time,” he said. “We’ll take this hallway and we’ll completely renovate it and then we’ll move to another hallway.”

The reinvestment in the facility is much needed to stay relevant and provide what the community wants, he said.

“The baby boomers are coming to facilities and they want special things,” Duplechin said. “Everybody wants new things; they want their own room. They don’t want to share a room with anybody. And for years, that’s how it was, you shared rooms.”

Duplechin visited with Groves City Council recently and asked for a discounted rate for permits for the expansion.

The request was granted, thus saving the owners money. Council agreed to a 66 percent discount on the fees.

The fees for permits would be around $36,000.

Duplechin said the new addition will be attached to the current building. Owners have already purchased several homes nearby, which will be demolished to make room for the new therapy wing.

There are currently 80 beds at the facility and the new addition will add 20 more beds.

Vicki Holmes, who is part of management staff, believes the project is fantastic for the community. The facility has good therapists who have helped residents with a number of ailments and they leave in better physical condition then when they arrived.

Duplechin agreed.

“This is going to be something really nice for the people in the community to come to and get therapy and rehab or, if they choose to live here, it’s going to be much nicer, aesthetically pleasing place to stay,” he said.

Oak Groves Nursing Home is located at 6230 Warren St. in Groves.