Indiana County health care lawyer to open luxury personal care home in Unity

A high-end personal care home model introduced seven years ago in Indiana County is coming to Unity, with the planned opening of The Fountains at Latrobe senior living complex by year’s end.

Construction is underway on the first phase of the facility, which will include 22 assisted living rooms on Starlight Court, behind the Quality Mould plant off Arnold Palmer Drive.

Developer Marcy Colkitt expects to have the planned second phase, a 20-room secured memory care unit, ready for occupancy in June on the 4.5-acre property.

Colkitt said she expects the new care home to fill a need in the Unity area.

“We think that there’s a lot of growth in this area, and the location is close to Ligonier, Latrobe and Greensburg, very centrally located,” she said. “There’s a demand for high-end personalized care, and that’s what we’re providing.”

The Fountains at Latrobe will be located close to Independence Health System’s Square at Latrobe ambulatory medical care center.

But Colkitt said the plan is to have routine health services such as physical therapy, X-rays, blood tests, podiatry and physician services provided at The Fountains.

She sees it as a convenience for residents as well as their families, who won’t need to arrange transportation to routine medical appointments. “It’s almost a concierge service,” she said.

Colkitt said The Fountains will offer large private rooms and suites with high ceilings, individual bathrooms and an emphasis on personalized care.

That includes cooked-to-order menu options.

“It’s more in the style of a restaurant,” she said. “We serve the food that the people in our community like to eat. If people eat better, things go better.”

Live music is among entertainment offerings.

“We have live entertainment three times a week, exercise classes, crafting, massages, happy hours, regular family parties, all in addition to bingo, puzzles and trivia,” said Sue Swanlek, activities director for The Fountains at Indiana.

The design of the single-story Unity complex will incorporate sun rooms and skylights to provide natural light.

“Seniors want bright open spaces and a lot of light,” said Colkitt.

Operation of The Fountains at Latrobe is expected to employ about 40 people, many of them working full time.

Colkitt is serving as her own general contractor for the construction, assisted by builder Andy Miller and project manager Vince Gamble.

“They build all our facilities,” she said.

The Unity site is the third personal care complex for Colkitt, an Indiana County native who has worked as a health care lawyer for more than three decades. She started with the 22-room The Fountains at Indiana assisted living facility, soon joined by The Gardens at Indiana 20 memory care rooms, all in Indiana County’s White Township.

The 28-room Fountains at DuBois opened earlier this year.

Colkitt was inspired to develop her first senior living complex after searching for a memory care facility for her father-in-law.

“I ended up looking at about 80 facilities all over Western Pennsylvania, and I saw what was good about them and what wasn’t good,” she said. “Then I met with engineers and architects and came up with a design I wanted.”

She said she has been able to incorporate more modern designs in her facilities that are lacking in many other personal care homes that are 30 years old.

In The Fountains memory care unit, she noted, “Ours is a very open concept. You can stand anywhere and see any resident in that open area.”

While costs for residents of memory care units may vary depending on each one’s needs, Colkitt said the flat monthly rate for a standard assisted living room at the Unity complex likely will start at just under $6,000. That inclusive rate will cover all services, she said.

“Price usually is not a barrier for most of the people in our facilities,” she said. “The costs of living at home are more than people realize when you sit down and add them up.

“They’re having caregivers come in, and they’re paying taxes and for all their meals.”

In a personal care setting, she said, “You have 24 hours of care, and your family has peace of mind that somebody is always there.”