BY JACLYN ROSE –
Dalton’s Place is a brand new, state of the art assisted living facility located just north of Polk County in Waldron, Arkansas. Owned by the Shepherd Group, the same organization that owns Mena’s Peachtree, and consists of Mike Shepherd, Carla Tenbrook and Todd and Lori Hightower. Additionally they own another facility in Fordyce, Arkansas. Dalton’s Place is managed by Healthmark Services.
This forty-bed facility opened its doors on June 1, 2015, and hopes to provide the people of Scott County, as well as Western Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, with quality assisted living care. Dalton’s Places differs greatly from a nursing home and instead offers assistance with the activities of daily living such as cooking, laundry, bathing, dressing, and medications. Residents are provided with three balanced meals a day, as well as snacks. Their apartments also come furnished with a microwave and refrigerator and freezer.
The Administrator at Dalton’s Place, Mena native, Tosha Lance, obtained her Bachelor’s of Science Degree with an emphasis in Health Information Management from Arkansas Tech University in 2007. Lance, along with her husband, Arkansas State Trooper Mike Lance, and three children, Kailie, Abigail, and Andrew, relocated to Waldron in June of 2014 when Mike was posted in Scott County.
“The closest assisted living facility was in Mena or Greenwood, with nothing in Scott County except the nursing home. We built this to give citizens another option. Several residents have moved from the nursing home, because they weren’t at a point where they needed that level of care and they are very thankful,” explained Lance.
Aside from assisting with their resident’s basic needs, Dalton’s Place offers several other amenities to their residents. There is a beauty parlor on site and a licensed cosmetologist offers services to residents twice a week at a deeply discounted rate; perms, shampoo and set, haircuts and hair colors, as well as, manicures and pedicures. There is an activities director who has activities and games, such as Bingo for the residents and there is a Bible Study once a week. While residents are free to come and go at Dalton’s Place, and many bring their own vehicles, they also offer transportation to doctor’s appointments in the area, as well as transportation to go shopping. With an additional deposit, Dalton’s Place also allows residents to bring their pets. “So many times, these pets are very important to residents, a part of their family, and that could be the difference of them coming here where we can assist them, or staying home,” explained Lance.
Dalton’s Place currently employees twenty-two people, including four nurses and ten certified nursing assistants and a Registered Nurse is on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Jane Hovious, the Director of Care, has been a nurse for 23 years, with 18 years of long-term care experience. All residents wear a pendent with a call button that goes directly to the nurse’s pager.
“Our facility is brand new, nice and clean, we have a kitchen, commercial laundry room, a library, an activities room a chapel, and a dayroom that we call the Razorback Room, everyone is very excited about tailgating in there. We also have a very nice courtyard out back with water features. We welcome residents from anywhere, and we’re excited to be here and to offer our services to this area,” Lance said.
Dalton’s Place is located at 520 West 2nd Street in Waldron and can be reached by calling 479.637.0061. They accept private pay, Medicaid, some long-term care insurance, and the Veteran’s Aid and Attendance Program.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
We are so thankful to have Dalton’s Place open in our community. They are providing a much-needed service of aiding those who may need a little assistance with their daily activities but do not qualify for a nursing home. They are also providing much-needed jobs for the citizens of our community. On a personal note, I have had family that in the past had to move from our community for these same services. I am thankful that in the future, we will have Dalton’s Place as an option for care.
Hello Jaclyn Rose,
Jacyln i am sure you doing well. Thanks a lot for sharing such an informative write up with readers like me who are doing research about the assisted living communities and their issues. After reading about the Dalton’s Place i am feeling that it must be happy place for the member who lives there. Especially i am feeling much satisfied towards the nursing staff which is the most important pillar of any assisted living home. I want to visit the Dalton place and wish to spend some time with the members.Its helps me a lot to carry my research about the topic of home care and assisted living community homes.