Minnesota-based Benedictine welcomed Assumption Community, a senior living community in Cold Spring, to its family of senior living communities. Benedictine is a nationally recognized, Catholic, nonprofit senior care organization offering a full spectrum of health and housing services to aging adults.
Father Tom Knoblach, vicar of clergy and health care ethics for the Diocese of St. Cloud, presided over the blessing and welcoming ceremony on March 5. Father Leroy Scheierl, pastor of St. Boniface Parish, symbolically transferred the mantle of stewardship over Assumption Community to Benedictine and its president and CEO, Jerry Carley.
“We are excited to welcome Assumption Community into the Benedictine family and look forward to continuing the Benedictine tradition of care and serving the Cold Spring area into the future,” Carley said. “Thank you to all who worked so hard to complete this process.”
Assumption Community will now be known as Benedictine Living Community-Cold Spring. The spectrum of health and housing services, located at 715 First St. N., includes Benedictine Assumption Home, a skilled nursing facility; Benedictine Assumption Court, an assisted living campus; Benedictine Asher Haus, an assisted living memory care building; Benedictine John Paul Apartments, a subsidized senior apartment building; and Benedictine Home Health-Cold Spring and Benedictine Health Services-Cold Spring, a Medicare-certified home health agency.
The campus currently employs 153 people. The new website is www.BenedictineColdSpring.org.
Benedictine now has 34 campuses in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Illinois and Missouri and includes more than 2,100 skilled nursing units and over 2,500 assisted living or independent units.
The transfer brings together a rich Benedictine history of both organizations and a shared mission of caring for seniors. Assumption Home was founded in 1963 by St. Boniface Parish, while Benedictine was founded in 1985 by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, Minnesota.
In August 2023, Benedictine reached an agreement with the St. Boniface Church and the Diocese of St. Cloud to transfer membership in Assumption Community to Benedictine and the Catholic sponsorship to Duluth Benedictine Ministries.
In January 2024, the Minnesota Department of Health issued its approval of the transfer of licenses for Assumption Home, Assumption Court, Asher Haus, Assumption Home Care and Assumption Health Services.
On Feb. 22, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued their approval for the transfer of ownership of John Paul Apartments, which, as a HUD dwelling, required additional approval from HUD.