20th Anniversary Celebration

Pavilions Prepares to Celebrate 20 Years

This year marks the emerald anniversary of the Grand Traverse Pavilions which opened twenty years ago.  As part of the celebration the campus is undergoing a campus wide beautification plan, the focal point of which will be a fountain in the front circle that was part of the original design for the Pavilions in 1997.

The Grand Traverse Pavilions is the latest in a proud legacy of providing medical care for the aging population in our community over the past century.  The history begins in the early 1900s, with the closure of the 22 bed Boardman Valley Hospital (known also as the Grand Traverse County Poor House), to the Grand Traverse Medical Care Facility (built in 1959), to the current Grand Traverse Pavilions established in 1998. 

Now in its twentieth year, the Pavilions provides a continuum of care for aging adults including a 39 suite rehabilitation center, an assisted living facility for 78 residents, adult day and overnight respite care, fitness and wellness programs, and a long-term skilled nursing care facility for up to 240 residents. The Pavilions, owned by Grand Traverse County (MI), is a self-sustaining care community providing more than $4 million each year in charity care to members of our community through unreimbursed medical expenses and funding support for those who do not have financial resources for their care.

We are planning a special celebration this year the week of National Nursing Home Week on May which will culminate the first week of June.  The goal is for the new Pavilions Plaza and fountain to be completed by June 21st to hold a special rededication of the Pavilions. The celebration will also be enhanced with the kick off of the 2018 Concerts on the Lawn season to immediately follow the rededication of the Pavilions. “The idea of incorporating a healing garden, including a fountain, in the front circle drive for the Grand Traverse Pavilions was part of the original building plans in 1997,” says Deborah Allen, Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Pavilions Foundation. “Over the past twenty years since the Pavilions opened its doors, designated donations to the Healing Garden Fund have been put assigned for the future creation of a fountain feature at the entrance of our campus.  Funds collected to date will now allow us to turn the front circle into a place of beauty and reflection for our residents and community to enjoy.  This concept of incorporating beauty is healing is not a new philosophy, in fact, it was the montra of Dr. James Decker Munson the founding Medical Superintendent of the Northern Michigan Asylum, and the historical campus of where the Grand Traverse Pavilions was constructed in 1998.  In fact, this concept of compassionate care was echoed in the Eden Alternative which is a philosophy that asserts that no matter how old we are or what challenges we live with, life is about continuing to grow.  The three plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom account for the bulk of suffering among our Elders. An Elder-centered community commits to creating a Human Habitat where life revolves around close and continuing contact with people of all ages and abilities, as well as plants and animals. It is these relationships that provide the young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living.

The Fountain is expected to be completed by early June.

In honor of the 20th anniversary and as part of the 2018 Beautification plan as a gateway for healing, the Grand Traverse Pavilions Foundation has announced the opportunity to give a lasting memorial or tribute to a loved one here on the 28-acre Pavilions campus. “We wanted to offer family members a tangible way to memorialize their loved one while also enhancing the environment of comfort and healing for future generations,” says Deborah Allen, Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Pavilions Foundation. “In addition to the brick pavers in the new Pavilions Plaza and Healing Gardens being installed this spring, we have trees, benches, and picnic tables throughout our campus that can be dedicated in tribute.”

Memorials will be marked with a plaque naming the individual for whom the donation is in honor of.  In addition to the pavers, trees, benches and picnic tables, families can consider sponsoring an entire courtyard.  This generous support would allow the Pavilions to update the resident courtyards more frequently, swapping out plantings and maintaining the beauty of these oases of nature in our facility.  

“We have worked hard to be good stewards of the Pavilions property and to properly care for the investment the Grand Traverse County residents have made,” says Kory Hansen, Administrator/CEO of the Pavilions. “These gifts will allow us to maintain our campus, keeping it as the jewel it is for the community and for the generations to come.”

The Pavilions campus hosts many benches and picnic tables that can be dedicated to memorialize a loved one or honor a care giver.

For more information on memorial or honorary giving opportunities please contact Deborah Allen, Foundation Executive Director at 231-932-3018. There is a giving form on the back cover of this issue of Legacy for your convenience in making a gift in support of the 20th Anniversary of the Grand Traverse Pavilions.