Nursing homes receiving younger residents

Vermilion Manor Nursing Home in Danville, Illinois, used to be a community that rarely saw residents who were under the age of 65. Joan Darr, the administrator of the facility, has been in the business for two decades and told Commercial-News.com that she had only seen one or two younger patients since starting her career. However, all that is changing.


"But now when your last 10 admissions are under the age of 50, then that's a big change," she said.


This trend is apparently growing across the country.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that the number of residents in retirement homes under the age of 65 has jumped 22 percent in the last eight years.


Many workers in the field enjoy the new shift in demographics. Forty-one-year-old Cheri Leger helps older residents meet their needs and enjoys the time she spends with them.


"A lot of the older residents are happy to see a young person," she told the news source.


Some nursing homes are working to accommodate the needs of younger residents. Minnesota's Bayshore Health Center has replaced some bingo nights with poker nights, while substituting pizza for lasagna and soda for coffee and tea, according to The Boston Globe.


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