Masonic Homes Covina Citrus Heights Health Center is a newly constructed 32-bed skilled nursing facility built to serve residents and the broader community. It’s part of a larger continuing care retirement community (CCRC).

The project is defined by an open floor plan, abundant natural light and green spaces for every resident and their families, with a mid-century modern fabric and park-like landscape similar to the rest of the campus.

Project manager Matthew Smith with architectural firm SmithGroup aimed to harmonize the space with the existing CCRC campus, which includes independent housing and assisted living. Construction challenges included Covid delays, but was completed in June 2023 and the facility opened in May for initial residents and then fully in September of that year with an expanded 39,200 square feet of space.

SmithGroup handled the interior design, while Mason Builders was the general contractor and Cambridge CM served as construction manager.

Marked by a home-like atmosphere and accessibility, the Masonic Homes nursing facility features a secure memory care garden, a sensory garden and modern, open-concept nurse station.

This new building is on Masonic Homes of California’s Covina campus; in addition they have another community in the Bay Area.

The concept

Masonic Homes didn’t have any skilled nursing on the campus, Smith said, and residents would have to leave the campus if they needed skilled care. The facility met a need, but also was an opportunity to add green spaces that every resident, regardless of acuity or cognitive ability, could enjoy.

“That was the big goal – it was to get skilled nursing care on the campus for the residents,” Smith said. “It was determined that a 32-bed facility would serve their needs and then that would allow them to also serve the community.”.

It’s open not just to members of the Masonic Order, but also to the greater community. A secure garden for memory care residents was included in the original design. 

“Within the courtyard that we created, there is a secure garden directly adjacent to the building. That’s the memory care garden. Memory care residents can go outside in a secure space,” said Smith.

Another space, formerly a large paved barbeque patio, was turned into a sensory garden open to the whole campus.

The project planned out gardens to connect to all the buildings – residents, staff and families can enter the sensory garden from three different sides, and it’s a much more organic space compared to what was there, Smith said.

“We have little placards to tell them about the plants that they can smell or touch, and all of the plants and vegetation are all drought tolerant,” he added.

Before the redesign, lawns and trees planted on the CCRC campus didn’t take into account what was needed in terms of limited water resources in California.

The construction

The skilled nursing building was constructed with two households of 16 residents per floor, in mostly private rooms; there are two shared suites in each household. The build took longer than anticipated, he said, given delays during Covid due to isolation protocols.

Construction of the nurse station ended up being more of a “care hub” than the traditional nurse station in a nursing home.

“It’s a touchdown point for the staff. It’s really tucked away and not a very prominent feature, but at the same time, because of the way it’s positioned, it has really excellent sight lines of the living room and dining room,” said Smith.

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) allowed the living room and dining room to be open to the corridor, because of the site lines from the Care Hub, or nurse station. The Hub has great sight lines down the hallways allowing staff to see every resident room from one point.

The rooms themselves are “generous,” Smith said. Family members can stay with their loved ones and have space to visit in the room while also allowing space for the staff to care for the residents.

Bathrooms are fully accessible with roll-in showers while not being institutional in look – they’re a very home-like space.

The completion

Staff have a clean, modern space to work in, and both the memory care and sensory gardens have planter boxes residents can use, turning it into an activity space, Smith said.

The living room and dining room are designed to function like a great room and be the main hub of activity for the residents.

“It’s really functioning like a home in that way. People are living in the living space, the open living room and dining room having a little Mid Century Modern screen in between them,” said Smith. “It’s just a really nice connected space with the large windows out to the gardens. It draws people out to those gardens. I think those spaces are working really effectively.”

Strong connection to the outdoors and the rest of the community was a concept brought through to completion. If residents and family look closely, there’s a connection to Masonic symbology too throughout the building, “rich with meaning” to occupants, according to the SmithGroup.