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Have
a Gay Old Time: Nursing Home to Set Up Specialized Unit
By
Jay
Fitzgerald,
Boston
Herald
July
11, 2007
A
Chelsea
non-profit is planning to build what could be the nation’s first
skilled-nursing home for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elders.
The Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home Foundation next year hopes to start
construction on a $26 million nursing-home complex in which some of the
units will specialize in taking care of elderly people with specific
diseases and specialized needs.
Two of the 10 buildings within the complex will offer skilled-nursing
care for only those suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), while two
others will offer nursing-home spots for the blind and those suffering
from multiple sclerosis.
And one 10-bedroom unit will provide for elderly residents who are
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, also known as “LGBT,” said the
foundation’s executive director.
Gerard Koskovich, a staff liaison for the American Society of Aging’s
Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network, said he thinks the
Chelsea
facility could be the first skilled-nursing home in the nation aimed at
just the LGBT market, though there are elderly retirement and
assisted-living complexes that provide services for gays and lesbians.
Barry Berman, the executive director, said his organization thinks
there’s a need for skilled-nursing services and care targeted directly
at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender market. Those within the
LGBT community can’t always freely express themselves in a larger
community without drawing criticism from others, said Berman.
But, living in a separate nursing-home facility, they could meet with
their partners, read magazines of their choice and not be bothered by
anyone upset by their sexual orientation, he said.
“Someone could feel comfortable putting up a picture of their partner
without someone snickering at them or ostracizing them,” said Berman.
The LGBT unit within the larger planned complex on
Chelsea
’s Admiral’s Hill is set to be called the Elsie Frank House, named
after the late mother of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton), one of the
most famous openly gay political leaders in the nation.
Berman said Elsie Frank was well known for her backing of low-income
housing for the elderly and for supporting the rights of gays and
lesbians.
The new nursing home complex, set to open in 2009, is part of a growing
trend to make nursing homes more home-like and less like hospitals, Berman
said.
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