Pahrump Senior Center undergoes facelift

Regular visitors at the Pahrump Senior Center were greeted to a brand new look following recent renovations.

The decades-old facility was in need of repairs from floor to ceiling.

Assistance came from officials at Nevada Healthcare Partners, who jumped at the opportunity.

Nevada Healthcare Partners Medical Group is a network of more than 300 primary care physicians and more than 1,700 specialists with clinics throughout Southern Nevada.

Vice President of Operations Jeremy Cox said his organization merely wanted to help the center, which provides numerous services to area seniors.

"When we first joined the community with Healthcare Partners two years ago, we realized real quickly that the Pahrump Senior Center was a focal point in the community and was in need of some resources," he said. "We quite literally try to find different vehicles beyond just the patient interaction that we can support within the community."

Open five days a week, the center is a popular hub where seniors mingle, enjoy lunch and other activities including card games, crafts and beading.

For the more active set, the center offers exercise and dance classes, bus excursions and health seminars on a regular basis, which Cox said is very important to the well-being of seniors.

The center is funded mainly through grants and donations.

"The Senior Center was clearly in need of some support so we started with meals and donated to their program," he said. "We also learned there was a lot of people who circulated through it and there was definitely a need for a remodeling project."

The project included interior painting, carpeting and lighting.

Geno Urista, Nevada Healthcare Partners director of facilities, said efforts were also made to help save the facility money on utilities.

"Within the kitchen, the spillover on the heat exchange was causing their costs to go up and they had ventilation issues," he said. "We put our heads together, and to fix the problem. We wanted to help bring down operating costs so they can serve more seniors."

Additionally, Urista said the brand new power-efficient lighting also contributes to cost savings.

"We provided the LED lighting so they can save money in the long run as well as having the facility better illuminated because some of the folks are a little older and the lighting helped them tremendously. We are also moving the strip thermostats around to help the airflow in the building become a little more balanced."

Elnora White, has been volunteering her time at the facility since 1984, noted many of the changes the senior center has underwent over the years.

"The past six years or so, the center has operated the best I've seen," she said. "They have excellent employees, management and board members. I want to give a big thanks to Healthcare Partners because we finally have a real nice, beautiful place to come to each day. I never thought I would be alive long enough to see the changes, and I glad I was able to. I love this place and always will."

The center's Site Manager, Anne Harris, said the entire board and members at the center are overjoyed with the renovation project.

"We are just thrilled with Nevada Healthcare Partners and what they have done to make the center a more bright and lively place for our seniors," she said. "The new carpeting, paint and lighting makes the center much more inviting. They also remodeled the bathrooms. They are true community partners."

Plans to remodel the facility did not occur overnight.

Cox said he sat down with the center's officials and created a plan of action, where ideas were exchanged and implemented.

"We met with Anne about three weeks ago and we just walked through the whole project and talked about what we could do as far as the remodeling," he said. "We talked about what their struggles were and their gaps and realized the facility had been around for a very long time. We also thought about how we could help them lower operating costs so they could stretch their dollars and continue to be good stewards within the community."

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @sharrispvt.