Shovels Turn for Windsor’s ‘Nursing Home of the Future’

CANFIELD, Ohio – A  $12-million nursing home and rehabilitation center that will be built in Canfield Township should become the new standard for the industry, the president of Girard-based Windsor House Inc. said Wednesday

“This is going to look like the nursing home of the future,” John Masternick said shortly after he and others broke ground for the Windsor House at Canfield. “The nursing home of the future is going to look much more like a hotel and resort as opposed to an institutional, hospital-type setting.”

Windsor House at Canfield will be a 72-bed private room rehabilitation center that offers 60,000 square feet – more space per resident than any other rehabilitation center in the region, Masternick said: “It’s going to have a lot of amenities and it’s going to be one of the most unique facilities in the area.”

Nora Wiley, a partner of Architects Plus in Cincinnati, said the new center will feature large private rooms where most rehabilitation operations offer semi-private and smaller rooms. “There are spacious areas for family, residents and staff to gather, new programs, and it’s really unlike anything else we’ve seen in the area,” she said.

The center is geared toward short-term rehabilitation, and patients will have a wing dedicated specifically for those who require just a few weeks stay. Wiley added, “There’s also a fitness facility specifically for those residents, with state-of-the art equipment.”

Critical to the project was the cooperation between the city of Canfield and Canfield Township to establish a joint economic development district, or JEDD, to make the new center possible. That agreement took nearly three years to reach, Masternick said, and at times it looked as if it were stalled.

Initially, the idea was for the city to annex the land so utilities such as water and sewer could be extended. The project reached an impasse when Mahoning County commissioners denied Windsor House’s request for annexation because the property is not contiguous to the city.

After nearly three years of negotiations, the township and city agreed to create a JEDD. Under this arrangement, the city will collect a 1% income tax on employee payrolls and provide the site with utilities while the township and Mahoning County receive the benefits of real estate taxes on the project.

The Windsor House president thanked all of the public officials who put in long hours to see the project through.

John DeCerbo Construction is the general contractor on the project. The new center should be open within 18 months. Some 72 will be employed when it is fully staffed and operational.

The project should employ between 50 and 60 building tradesmen throughout the construction period, said Rocky DeGennaro, president of the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council. “I want to thank John [Masternick] giving the job to a good local union contractor,” he said.

Windsor House at Canfield is situated on 19 acres at the corner of state Route 446 and U.S. Route 62. The center expects to draw largely from a five-mile radius plus the northern tier of Columbiana County.

“It’s going to be a big part of the community,” Masternick said, “and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”

Pictured: Don Dragish Jr., John Masternick and Brian Governor pose with shovels used in the ground-breaking ceremony and a rendering of the project.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.