Verl Jensen dozed off during a game of Skip-Bo in late October while his only living child packed up the last of his belongings at Elk Meadows Assisted Living and Memory Care. These days, it wasn’t uncommon to find the 93-year-old Korean War Army veteran softly snoozing in his wheelchair. Something in him had altered, according to his daughter, Melissa McArthur. She had visited Jensen every day since he moved into Elk Meadows about two years ago, and it started when residents learned the facility — Summit County’s only senior care center — would close on Dec. 1. “He has been sleeping a lot since this. The stress. He’s changed. My dad has changed, really changed, because he doesn’t want to leave. I honestly think it’s depression. It’s never happened before,” McArthur said. McArthur and others with loved ones living at Elk Meadows learned the building’s owners were planning to sell the facility from a Facebook post. Protestors demonstrated in September outside of Elk Meadows Assisted Living & Memory Care in Oakley against the potential sale and closure of the facility. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordOakey officials announced in September they would be considering a request from Chateau Recovery Center to amend Elk Meadow’s existing conditional use permit and transform it into a 56-bed residential treatment facility for people, mostly first responders, suffering from drug and alcohol abuse or post-traumatic stress-related disorders.Families and residents organized a demonstration outside of Elk Meadows to “save our home” before a meeting with staff about the potential sale, which would displace the seniors living there.However, if the owners decided to close Elk Meadows, there wasn’t much anyone could do to prevent it. Residents would have to leave by Nov. 30.A daughter’s loveMcArthur hated the thought of moving her father. The 26-year Kamas resident works as a preschool teacher, and Elk Meadows is about five minutes down the road. It was easy for her to finish class and stop by for dinner before heading home to take her teenage son to football practice.Jensen was born and raised in Spring City, a picturesque little farm town down by Manti that he was obsessed with talking about, on July 25, 1931. He was the youngest of four brothers and developed a deep love for God and country. Jensen spent many years working on the family farm, but he decided to attend Utah State to earn a degree in secondary education when he returned home from the Korean War.He hoped to become a high school shop teacher, but Jensen learned there were no jobs at North Sanpete High School. So he went back to Utah State to earn a degree in elementary education. Jensen met his wife, Donna, and they married in 1965. Son Michael joined their family in 1970, followed by McArthur in 1973.Jensen had profound patience and a love for children that made him a favorite among his students. He taught third grade for around 30 years and baptized many of his students into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Verl Jensen and Melissa McArthur pass out candy at the Halloween festivities at Elk Meadows on Oct. 26. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordMcArthur and her brother used to take turns taking care of Jensen when their mother passed away about eight years ago. Jensen moved in with McArthur and her husband, so it was manageable. But then McArthur’s brother passed away three years ago, making her the primary caretaker. She moved Jensen into Elk Meadows two years later, around 2022, when she realized her father needed extra support.“When there’s no one else to help you, it’s a lot of pressure,” McArthur said. “It’s so draining … taking care of your parents and making sure that they’re cared or and loved for. When you have someone that you feel comfortable with, it makes your life a whole lot different.”Elk Meadows was the perfect option for the family, especially with the memory care component, despite being the only senior care center in Summit County. Without it, McArthur might’ve had to stop working. Now, she realized the time she spent with her father would be significantly reduced when the facility closed.Melissa McArthur speaks about the Elk Meadows Assisted Living closure at an Oakley City Council meeting in September. Many residents urged the council to do what they could to keep the nursing home from being sold. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordFamilies scramble A letter was sent to Elk Meadows residents on Oct. 17, giving them 45 days’ notice that the assisted living community would cease operations on Dec. 1. McArthur and Sherri Smoot, whose mother moved into Elk Meadows around the same time as Jensen, immediately started looking for new senior care facilities when they learned of the sale. The same day, the pair toured Spring Gardens Senior Living in Heber City. It worked for Smoot, but it wasn’t the right fit for McArthur and Jensen.Some Elk Meadows residents attended a September Oakley City Council meeting to provide and listen to public input about the potential sale. LaDene Atkinson, a resident at Elk Meadows, called the facility her home and said she did not want to have to move. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordProvo was another option for McArthur. However, she settled on a facility in Lindon operated by the same company contracted at Elk Meadows: Rocky Mountain Care. The facility didn’t feel dated and was the best of the three options McArthur toured. Still, her visits would be cut down to about three days a week, and her drive would be 12 times longer.“That’s why Verl is going to miss her,” said 89-year-old Elk Meadows resident LaDene Atkinson. She and Jensen had grown close, sharing meals and playing games together.McArthur paid a little more than $4,000 a month for a room at Elk Meadows and had to spend significantly more at the new facility to ensure Jensen had a spacious room. The Lindon center did offer economy rooms, but they were smaller than what Elk Meadows residents were accustomed to. McArthur was worried many residents would be forced to downsize their possessions.“Can you imagine having your whole life in one room?” Elk Meadows activities director Kaitlan Blacksher asked.About 20 residents still lived in Elk Meadows a month before the nursing home was set to close. Many were still undecided about where they wanted to move. Around 35 lived at the 42-bed facility when the closure was announced in September.The stress kept Atkinson up at night, even after she decided to move to the facility in Lindon. She went to bed worrying, and the feeling remained throughout the next day, always on her mind. Atkinson said it’s been an exhausting life change, one she didn’t expect to experience as a senior.“I can’t help but worry. It’s your life, and I’m just very sad,” Atkinson said tearfully. Verl Jensen shares a goodbye hug with his friend, LaDene Atkinson, a fellow Elk Meadows resident. The pair enjoyed playing games and sharing meals with each other. Atkinson called the other residents family. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordShe has two children who live in the Salt Lake Valley, and a daughter in Wyoming, but they’re all in their mid-60s and getting older themselves. Luckily, Atkinson’s son would be able to visit her regularly at the Lindon facility.Atkinson could still point out her house about eight miles away from the great window in Elk Meadow’s sitting room. She was born in Provo and moved to Francis when she married at 18. She never moved out of that home until three years ago, when she went to Elk Meadows after breaking her neck.“We remodeled that house six to seven times, and I’ve been in this valley all those years. I’ve got to move out when I’m 89,” Atkinson said. “This is home since I’m not in my home. This is home, and all the people in this facility, we’re just family here.”Jensen bought gifts for those moving out early, dutifully distributing licorice and fuzzy socks. Some residents would stay until the last possible day, Nov. 30. However, McArthur wanted to move her father out sooner, saying the energy at Elk Meadows had shifted as fear and uncertainty hung about the community.Moving out, moving onLast Halloween, McArthur bought pounds of candy and decorations for Elk Meadows’ annual trick-or-treat event. This year, she wondered whether anyone would show up. She placed a witch hat on Jensen’s head, offering him sips of Pepsi in hopes it would keep him awake.Blacksher distributed candy among the handful of residents who came out of their rooms to participate. She saw it as an opportunity for the community to say goodbye to Elk Meadows and hopefully lift the residents’ spirits.Families and residents said there was a noticeable shift at Elk Meadows when there was a change in leadership last summer. Then, the facility switched to an agency for care. Elk Meadows struggled to build its staff, with only a few certified nursing assistants working at a time, according to Blacksher.Verl Jensen sits in his wheelchair while his daughter, Melissa McArthur, packs up his room on Oct. 25. Jensen moved to a nursing home in Lindon at the end of October. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordStaff constantly rotated in and out, and families said, at times, they worried whether their loved ones were receiving adequate care. Utah doesn’t have minimum staffing requirements, only requiring senior care facilities to have a “sufficient number of qualified direct care staff” on duty.McArthur and Smoot began visiting every day. They had to step in at times, helping to lead activities, oversee residents and take over kitchen duties. The women became fast friends, developing a family of their own within the Elk Meadows community.Blacksher was one of a few non-agency employees at Elk Meadows. She planned to transition to providing home care after the closure.A bittersweet farewellOnly two months had passed since news of Elk Meadows’ closure, but Jensen’s aging in that time far exceeded eight weeks.McArthur worried about her father. She suffered from stress and anxiety, unable to sleep. McArthur wasn’t sure if Jensen would socialize or be active, and she feared isolation would only deteriorate his mental and physical health. Jensen moved out of Elk Meadows on Oct. 28, just about a month before the facility shuttered. He was quiet as McArthur and his son-in-law moved the final few things still remaining in his room. “Are you ready, Dad?” McArthur asked when she emerged.Atkinson held Jensen close before he departed, reminding her friend she would see him at their new home in just a few days. Cynthia Crofts, an eastern Summit County resident who volunteered at Elk Meadows for more than a year, also pulled Jensen into a tight hug.McArthur’s husband led Jensen to the waiting car, helping transfer him into the passenger seat. An emotional Jensen asked why he had to move, and his son-in-law tried to explain Elk Meadows was going out of business.“You don’t realize the impact it’ll have until it’s time to say goodbye,” McArthur said. “I hate this.” After the drive, McArthur spent the evening helping Jensen adjust to his new surroundings. Nine Elk Meadows residents ended up moving into the facility, strengthening the sense of family they built in Oakley by looking out for each other.McArthur continued to make regular trips to Lindon, making good on her promise to visit three times a week. Every Sunday, McArthur traveled down the canyon to attend church with her father before heading back up to spend the day with her husband and son.Yet the stress of relocation — known as transfer trauma — started to affect Jensen. McArthur said he was immediately confused. Jensen always thought “he was going to be kicked out” of the new facility, and the disruption to his routine caused a decline in health.He passed away early Dec. 6 while McArthur held his hand. He was one of three former Elk Meadows residents to die in five weeks. Smoot’s mother was the first, then Jensen, and a third resident died soon after.“The two daughters that were out there every day had the first two parents to pass,” McArthur said.Final items are packed up for Verl Jensen from Elk Meadows in late October. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordFighting for changeWhile there was strong public opposition to the closure of Elk Meadows, community members could do very little to stop it. Elk Meadows is private property, and the owners had the right to sell it without input. Chateau Recovery’s proposal was also allowed under the existing conditional-use permit as a recovery center is an allowable use for the zone.Chateau Recovery CEO Danny Warner said he found the building for sale after a two-year search. The treatment center has a 16-bed facility located near the 13th hole of the Homestead Golf Course in Midway that would close if one in Oakley opened. The overall footprint of Elk Meadows wouldn’t change under the Chateau Recovery proposal with some updates to the landscaping. Around 80% of Chateau Recovery clients worked in police, fire or the military, according to Warner. Clients are voluntarily admitted for a minimum of 30 days and up to 90 days to address trauma, and people with court orders are not accepted.Still, community members expressed concerns about the proximity of the treatment center to the Oakley recreation complex across the street.The Oakley City Council did not have to vote on the amendment because it is an administrative action. Yet dozens of Elk Meadows families and residents spoke about the impact the closure would have at a council meeting on Sept. 25.Caretaker Kris Kellogg said she wasn’t opposed to the sale but wanted the building to be purchased by someone who would keep it as a senior care facility. However, the coronavirus pandemic was hard on assisted living programs.Kellogg organized a meeting in late October with state lawmakers including Utah House District 4 Rep. Kera Birkeland to address concerns about the closure. Birkeland said it was too late to do anything about the Elk Meadows.Instead, she announced plans to file a bill changing the noticing requirements. Birkeland would require long-term care facilities to increase the minimum notice from 30 to 90 days and mandate property owners disclose to prospective residents whether they intend to sell. It could become effective by May 1 if it’s passed during the next legislative session. However, Birkeland announced on Thursday she would be resigning from the Legislature effective Jan. 10.The amended conditional use permit was signed, though the sale of the building has not been finalized. “If these seniors paid the price, let’s make it worth it,” McArthur said. “You have 35 elderly that paid the price of being ripped out of their homes.”Verl Jensen dozes off while sitting in the sun coming in from the large windows in the Elk Meadows main area. Jensen passed away on Dec. 6 with his daughter, Melissa McArthur, by his side. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordThe post A community displaced: Elk Meadows closure leaves Summit County without senior care appeared first on Park Record.