Brian Murphy of the Chase Memorial Therapeutic Recreation Department and Tammie Boerner of The Good Shepherd Communities Foundation attend the recent 2nd Annual Nonprofit Showcase at the SUNY Morrisville campus in Norwich. (Photo from Chase Memorial)

By Sophia Root,

Commerce Chenango

NEW BERLIN – Commerce Chenango would like to highlight Chase Memorial Nursing Home & Rehab.

Chase is a member of Good Shepherd Communities, a not-for-profit that is governed by a volunteer board of directors. The facility is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Chase became a member of Good Shepherd Communities in 2017, joining Good Shepherd Fairview Home, Good Shepherd Village at Endwell, and Good Shepherd Communities Foundation.

Good Shepherd Communities has been in existence since 1870. Chase Memorial Hospital opened its doors with 22 beds in 1936, changing to Chase Memorial Nursing Home in 1968 and moving to its present location with 80 nursing home beds.

Chase Memorial Nursing Home & Rehab  is an 80-bed skilled nursing facility serving seniors in Chenango and Otsego counties. The facility provides nursing, physical and occupational therapy, medication management, and medical provider services.

Chase has been a pioneer in the development of healthcare for seniors. Chase was the original site of the Eden Alternative program.

According to the Eden Alternative website: “The Eden Alternative focuses on moving away from the institutional hierarchical (medical) model of care into a constructive culture of “home” where Elders direct their own lives.”

To this day, you will find cats, dogs, and abundant plant life in the facility. Chase Memorial Nursing Home also provides a home-like environment for its residents with four cats and nine birds.

Chase Memorial Nursing Home employs approximately 110 people, part of the over 500 staff at all Good Shepherd Communities’ locations. They serve over 380 senior residents at all three campuses and provide short-term therapy to over 250 people every year.

Good Shepherd Communities teamed with Guthrie Lourdes in 2020 to open the Lourdes clinic next door to Chase at 12 School Street, New Berlin. The property is owned by Good Shepherd Communities. Good Shepherd Communities also owns the building which houses the Head Start Program and Chase Housing Corporation in New Berlin. New Berlin and the neighboring towns are all tight-knit communities. The employees at Chase love working there because they are taking care of their parents, teachers, neighbors – all the people they grew up with. The residents love being taken care of by familiar people, and you can see and feel the bond between residents and staff.

When asked what their most important resource is leadship stated staff and our communities.

In 2022, the Good Shepherd Communities Foundation applied for and received $8 million through a New York State Transformational Grant. They will be using this to build a new facility for Chase Memorial Nursing Home, next to the current building. This investment demonstrates their commitment to continued high-quality care to the residents of Chase Memorial Nursing Home and the community of New Berlin, Chenango County, and surrounding areas.

A major challenge the company currently faces is the workforce. The management team is working diligently at recruiting Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants. They need caring and compassionate nursing staff to care for our residents.

The company does not have any job fairs or events coming up, but their current job openings are always listed on their website, and applications can be done online. Their website, www.GoodShepherdCommunities.org, contains information about Chase Memorial along with each of their entities and further contact information. Those seeking employment can apply directly through the website.