The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence, Chattanooga, experienced a ‘soft’ opening recently—much to the delight of residents and their families alike. The 43,000 square foot Alzheimer’s memory care community, located at 7620 Shallowford Road, is completely rebuilt from the ground up following the Easter 2020 EF3 tornado. Morning Pointe leadership has been busy readying the reconstructed senior campus to welcome its first residents in advance of the official grand opening event on Thursday, July 29 at 11:00 am.
“It is wonderful to finally be back here in this beautiful, caring place,” said executive director Alisha Landes. “The road to get here was long, but it has been worth it to see the smiles on these residents’ faces as they make new friends and enjoy the amenities we offer here at The Lantern. Our purposeful Alzheimer’s programming helps bring structure and meaning to those living life with memory disorders.”
Two of The Lantern’s initial new residents, Sarah and Glenda, are already fast friends and a source of comfort and familiarity to one another. Their families are delighted that The Lantern has already been a place where their loved ones can immediately feel at home and begin to live their best.
“At The Lantern, we use methodologies like Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care™ and the Best Friends™ approach to create a nurturing environment where residents are treated with dignity, love, and respect. We also help families learn how to not just cope with memory disease but manage it in a way that benefits them and their loved one through our caregiver support programs,” said Landes.
The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence is the region’s choice for memory care, offering one-level living across 43,000 square feet conveniently located in the East Brainerd community. The Lantern’s Meaningful Day™ purposeful programming offers two levels of memory care: Lamplight, which is for those living with early to moderate stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The Lantern program is geared toward those living with late to moderately severe stages of Alzheimer’s. Some apartments have secure access to private courtyards with special outdoor musical instruments in a partnership with PlayCore, a local outdoor recreation company. Medication management, around-the-clock nursing staff, and Farm-to-Table fresh dining program round out an impressive suite of services offered to those who call The Lantern home.
“Seeing the hard work and dedication to coordinating the rebuild of this special community after the tornado in 2020 is impressive,” said Greg A. Vital, president of Morning Pointe Senior Living. “We have been looking forward to this point for many months and I could not be more proud of our construction and clinical teams, as well as the leadership here at The Lantern, in bringing this memory care community back to life as Morning Pointe continues to serve the families of Chattanooga and East Brainerd.”
The Lantern at Morning Pointe is one of six Chattanooga-area Morning Pointe Senior Living communities, with additional campuses located in Hixson, East Hamilton, and Collegedale. Morning Pointe Senior Living, founded in 1996 by healthcare entrepreneurs Greg A. Vital and J. Franklin Farrow, is a senior healthcare services company who develops, owns, and manages 35 Morning Pointe assisted living and Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence communities in five southeastern states.
