The center, in which Gerontorioja has invested 13 million, adds a module for acquired brain damage to various innovations in senior care.
Olive trees, if well cared for, are centuries-old trees that create an ideal habitat for the growth of other species. This idea underlies the multimillion-dollar investment that the Gerontorioja group has made in the Camino de Olivos senior citizen home, which opened this Monday in the Logroño neighborhood of La Cava. This is not a typical residence. Even that name is avoided. Camino de Olivos aims to be a home, and it has been designed down to the smallest detail.
Adapted rooms, vegetable gardens, common recreation areas, private lounges for entertaining and celebrating with family, and other common areas for sharing life with other residents… There’s even a playground next to the entrance, designed for children to visit their elders and enjoy themselves.
The Riojan company has invested €13 million in its fourth center in the region, which, in addition to all the industry’s firsts, also includes a pioneering module in La Rioja for the treatment of acquired brain injury (strokes, cardiovascular accidents, etc.), whose patients until now had to travel from La Rioja to specialized services in Mondragón, Pamplona, or Barcelona.
“We were founded with the hope of becoming a benchmark in the senior care sector,” said Inés Aguado, manager of Gerontorioja, during the inauguration of the facility alongside the mayor of the capital, Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, and the regional ministers of Health, María Somalo, and Social Services, Pablo Rubio, among others.
Camino de Olivos offers 206 places (185 in the senior care home and the remaining 21 in the acquired brain injury module). For now, and pending the next framework agreement with the regional government, these are private, although the goal is to open up to public housing. In addition, a day center for 40 users will soon complete the offering of a resource that currently employs 40 people but is expected to employ 140.
The facility is divided into spaces designed for users with high dependency, for others with lesser needs, and for patients requiring treatment for acquired brain injury. The physiotherapy room and gym, with state-of-the-art equipment, the occupational therapy room, and another multisensory stimulation space are striking, for example. A kitchen and a room have even been installed for patients with acquired brain injury and their families to exercise before returning home.
Sara de la Peña, center coordinator at Gerontorioja, also announced that work is being done on intergenerational programs with schools and relationships with associations so that Camino de los Olivos can become “a true home.”
Source: LA RIOJA 25 report
