Editor’s note: Troy Health and Rehab Center, a residential skilled nursing center, offers a total of 29 speciality care beds for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. The facility has offered that care since its opening 1969. The CON sought by Noble Manor would add that level of care at an assisted living facility.

The state Health Planning and Development Agency is considering an application by Noble Manor of Troy to convert 16 assisted living beds to 16 specialty care assisted living beds. The cost of the project would be $191,050.
Noble Manor is owned and operated by Jimmy and Dale Law of Troy.
“Specialty care is for residents who have memory care needs – dementia or Alzheimer’s,” Dale Law said. “Troy and Pike County have been without that level of care since 2006 when Magnolia Wood Lodge converted from specialty care to mental health.
“By converting 16 beds from assisted living to specialty care, we are providing an additional level of care for Pike County.”
The additional level of care that Noble Manor plans to offer will require a staff that is specially trained to work with residents with memory loss.
“We will have nurses that will administer medications to the residents because they cannot protect themselves from medication error,” Law said.
The specialty care facility will be housed in Noble Manor 3.
The doors will be locked to prevent the residents from wandering. An upgraded smoke alarm system will be installed. A fenced area will allow residents to enjoy the outdoors.
Of course, all of the plans are contingent on Noble Manor’s meeting all of the requirements as a specialty care facility.
“We are waiting to get our Certificate of Need and then we’ll have to go to technical services to have our plans approved and make any changes necessary,” Law said. “Then, we’ll have to be licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health to operate as a specialty care facility.”
Law said the hearing with the Certificate of Need review board is scheduled for Aug. 20. The hearing could result in the issuance of a Certificate of Need.
Law said there has been a slight dip in the market for assisted living facilities and that freed up Noble Manor 3 for the possible conversion from an assisted living facility to a specialty care facility.
“One reason for the dip in the market is the economy and another is that more senior adults are staying home longer to stretch the dollars as far as possible,” she said.
The Laws are making the transition to an additional level of care as a family.
“Our son, Dr. Eric Law, and his wife, Teresa, are available to work with us on policies and training,” Law said.
“So, we decided to go ahead and make the transition. It’s just the right time.”
Law said the specialty care facility would be beneficial to those who would otherwise have to locate their loved ones in facilities in Montgomery, Dothan or Enterprise.
“There is a need for a specialty care facility here in Troy and Pike County and we are hoping to be able to meet that need,” she said.