Community Celebrates Brookdale Living

By: Christian Shepherd

Staff Writer

Photo Courtesy of:

Kelly Theis

Photo Description:

Michele Provencio (center), next to County Supervisor James Ramos, cuts the ribbon alongside numerous elected officials and community leaders, signifying the grand opening of Brookdale in the city of Loma Linda.

Recently, Brookdale of Loma Linda, formerly Emeritus, hosted their ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the beginning of the Brookdale legacy in the community of Loma Linda. Brookdale opened its doors 35 years ago and currently operates more than 1,150 communities in 46 of the 50 states across the United States, 468 of which are freestanding Assisted Living Communities, which results to over 111,000 residents calling Brookdale home. Residents and family were welcomed to the dinner alongside several community leaders and elected officials as well. James Ramos, San Bernardino County supervisor, and Dan Matthews from the Loma Linda University Church, received a certificate of recognition from Brookdale. Certificates of appreciation were also awarded to the Enlightened Dogs Therapy Team, accepted by Chris and Elicia Ashton and The Faithful Singers, accepted by Joe Shaffer. Carolyn Garvin thanked the staff at Brookdale, who took care of her mother, Eldine Friesen, for many years. "I would like to say thank you to all of the staff here. You are close to mine and my family's hearts," she said. Michele Provencio, business office manager, who had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the ceremony, commented on the recent change from Emeritus to Brookdale. "I'm most excited about all of the great systems that we have in place. There are so many different things we can offer, currently, Brookdale has many different types of facilities, like nursing facilities, that I am looking forward to getting involved with here in California." Provencio went on to say, "I love working with the residents here at Brookdale." According to the Brookdale website, "enriching the lives of those we serve with compassion, respect excellence and integrity," is the mission at every Brookdale location, and while they have grown to become a national leader in senior living solutions, they ascertain that the care the quality of care they are providing is the most important part of their operations.