Ooltewah-based assisted living facility provider Morning Pointe will break ground next month on its 40th senior living center.
The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence at Hardin Valley will be built in Knoxville and will include 60 single-level apartments, providing care for those with early stage Alzheimer’s and other dementia in one section and more specialized care for more advanced memory loss patients in another part of the new facility. A groundbreaking ceremony for the 45,000-square-foot complex on Reagan Road in Knoxville is planned for Nov. 15.
“As our population ages and as the Knoxville area grows, the need for care for our seniors in the region continues to grow with it — whether it be a need for assisted living or for memory care,” Greg A. Vital, president of Morning Pointe Senior Living, said in an announcement of the new facility. “We are pleased to be able to serve more seniors in East Tennessee, and their families, as we know that the families of those with Alzheimer’s and other memory challenges especially need support and reassurance that their loved ones are safe and cared for by compassionate professionals.”
The project is the second phase of the the 20-acre senior living campus that opened in Knoxville in early 2022 with 77 apartments. The new Lantern facility will employ about 60 workers and spur more than $25 million of local spending on payroll, taxes and purchases of goods and services, Vital said.
Programming at the new building will adhere to Morning Pointe’s focus on clinical care with physical and occupational therapies, life enrichment and wellness offerings, and intergenerational activities. It will also feature Morning Pointe’s Farm to Table program with local, farm-fresh and seasonal ingredients.
Vital, a Republican state representative in the Tennessee General Assembly from Ooltewah, founded Morning Point in 1997 with entrepreneur Franklin Farrow after working at Life Care Centers of America in Cleveland, Tennessee. Morning Pointe Senior Living operates assisted living, personal care, and Alzheimer’s memory care communities in five southeastern states.
— Compiled by Dave Flessner