Tore Borhaug, the first Norwegian ever to attend and graduate from Berea College, is considering constructing and designing assisted & independent living communities in Berea. A number of meetings with different officials and other professionals have been scheduled this week to start the preliminary research. Interested individuals who would like to attend a presentation by Mr. Borhaug and want to hear more about this unique operation are welcome to attend a meeting on September 10, 2015 at 7:00PM at the Berea Municipal Building on Chestnut Street (site of Berea Council meetings).
Borhaug attended Berea College from 1986-1990, where he met his wife Leslie Parker Borhaug, a native of Brevard, North Carolina who has family in Berea and had numerous family members attend Berea College over the years.
Borhaug has been operating Tore’s Home in Brevard, NC for almost 20 years and is able to provide virtually all levels of care ranging from independent living in clients’ own homes to end-of-life care in his small and intimate facilities. In 20 years Tore’s Home has never asked anyone to leave a facility for care reasons, eliminating the need for institutionalization.
With nine assisted-living and extended-care locations – or homes – in Brevard and Hendersonville, North Carolina, owner and administrator said that Skylark Senior Care prides itself on providing a high level of care to individuals in smaller, more intimate settings. “We really are a true alternative to a nursing home,” Borhaug said. “We provide care through end-of-life in a non-institutional environment.”
Over that past two years, Tore’s Home has expanded its operation to include a Home Care Division, allowing individuals to continue living in their own homes as long as possible. Borhaug said Tore’s Home offers two programs in the In-Home Assisted Living program. The two programs are traditional home care and comprehensive home care. “The comprehensive approach is more for people who don’t have strong family support locally,” he said. “We become their extended family. People who enter our In-Home Assisted Living program can also come into our homelike facilities for respite care, to get their ‘batteries’ recharged,” Borhaug said. “They may return home and continue with the Independent-Living program, or seamlessly transition to one of the company’s Assisted-Living or extended care homes. The synergy between our In-Home Assisted Living and facilities has proven to be something that people want,” Borhaug said.
“All our facilities will be from six to twelve beds, so we really have a true home environment,” Borhaug said. “People will be joining family, and not a crowd.”
And since Tore’s Home works with local health care professionals, Borhaug noted, all residents will be able to keep their own doctors and be taken to appointments by a fully-accessible handicapped vehicle accompanied by Tore’s Home staff.
The Assisted Living facilities are for people who can no longer stay at home safely and who need around-the-clock care. Most residents who move into Assisted Living facilities will typically remain until they pass away or move into the Tore’s Home Extended Care units if they develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, become combative or verbally abusive, become a high fall risk or require more attention from staff for other reasons.
“Compared to traditional nursing homes in North Carolina,” Borhaug said, “people who come to us typically will save $2,500 to $3,000 and more per month.”
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