SALT LAKE CITY — A decades-old local health care institution is putting up a "for sale" sign.
The owner of the CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa senior care center announced Thursday the facility will be sold as the company realigns its business to accommodate the changing health care landscape.
"From a strategic (point of view), the company was going one way, and the Utah mission and circumstances were going in a different direction," Bill Rohloff, interim chief executive officer of the Salt Lake facility, told the Deseret News. "It was determined that it would probably better serve the community … for a different owner who's probably solely focused on senior care (to take over)."
St. Joseph Villa began operating in Salt Lake City in 1947 and currently serves about 300 residents with a staff of approximately 340 workers, Rohloff said.
Based in Irving, Tex., CHRISTUS Health is a Catholic, faith-based, not-for-profit health care system composed of more than 40 hospitals, inpatient and long-term care facilities, as well as clinics and other health care services. CHRISTUS facilities are located in more than 60 cities in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas and Mexico.
Last year, the Salt Lake City Council unanimously voted down a plan put forth by CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa to demolish historic homes on property the company owned adjacent to its facility and expand its campus.
CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa officials had asked the city for a master plan change that would have allowed the center to construct a new building to house Alzheimer's patients, but some critics argued razing homes would hurt the neighborhood.
At the time, council members encouraged St. Joseph to make an effort to expand within its footprint, something the center's administrator said would force some seniors out of their homes.
While the council defeat was not the major reason for the decision to sell, Rohloff said it was ultimately among the contributing factors.
He also said the decision was made after a long period of careful consideration and "a certain amount of grieving."
"It was a very tough decision," he said. "It was a decision that was approved by the sisters in Houston and San Antonio who founded this place, recognizing that the mission that was started 63 years ago, (along with the current) circumstances and the environment, has changed."
While the choice to put the property up for sale has officially been made, Rohloff said it may take up to a year before the actual sale is finalized — and only after careful screening of potential buyers.
"Now the wheels go into motion … with a lot of criteria screened to be sure that whoever (acquires this facility) would have similar values and maintain care for the residents here and the associates," he said.
e-mail: jlee@desnews.com