Friday morning, staff at Share Convalescent Home and at Beadles Nursing Home learned of plans to merge the two facilities. The Alva Hospital Authority (AHA) will hold a special meeting early Tuesday morning to discuss the appraisal of Share Convalescent Home. After returning to open session, the trustees will vote whether to approve a letter of intent to sell the convalescent home.

Beadles Nursing Home posted the following statement on their Facebook page:

"We are thrilled to announce that we have been put on the Alva Hospital Authority's agenda to begin the process of purchasing Share Convalescent Home right here in town!

"Our commitment to providing exceptional care and creating a supportive community continues to grow. With this new step, we look forward to extending our reach and making a positive impact on even more lives.

"Please keep us in your prayers and stay tuned for updates as we embark on this new journey. We will share more details as it comes. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and remain dedicated to taking care of your loved ones and upholding our values of compassion, respect, and quality care."

Adam Jordan, administrator of Beadles Nursing Home, and his wife Dayna Jordan, director of nursing at Beadles, told the Alva Review-Courier, "Our vision is sustainability for the community." They cited the recent announcement that the 150-bed nursing home in Guymon is closing as a sign of the struggle such facilities have experienced. Combining the two nursing homes means they won't be competing for staff and residents.

The Jordans said they were expecting to enlarge Beadles Nursing Home in 2020. Plans were complete in February of that year, and then the pandemic put everything on hold. Skyrocketing inflation followed, and they can no longer afford to add to their building at 916 Noble Street in Alva.

Share Convalescent Home has also been affected by the pandemic. In a Facebook statement Friday, they said, "We're certain this will come as a surprise to most, but in a post-pandemic environment, there are too few resources available to successfully operate two nursing facilities in Alva. While our care outcomes have been great, neither facility has had adequate staffing or census to ensure long-range access to long term care and skilled nursing services.

"If the Authority approves the Letter of Intent, Beadles and Share will begin work on a management agreement, which Beadles would take over management of Share Convalescent Home operations, until such a time the OSDH approves Beadles to purchase Share Convalescent Home."

The Jordans said they plan to employ the current staff at Share Convalescent. Currently, Beadles has a staff of 94 serving 46 residents while Share has 37 people on staff and about 30 residents.

The Share Convalescent post on Facebook stated, "This past year has been a real struggle financially and it is likely our business would not survive another year with similar struggles. If approved, the two parties are essentially combining their resources to ensure continued access to nursing home care in Alva, which would be in jeopardy otherwise."

Adam Jordan said the timeline for combining the two facilities is controlled by the state. Provided the AHA approves the letter of intent Tuesday, application will be made to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) to allow the Jordans to take over the management of Share Convalescent. Approval of the change in management will take about a month, said Adam. The process seeking approval for their taking full possession will be longer, probably four to six months.

Future Plans

At a time in their lives when people usually begin thinking about retirement, the Jordans, who are in their 50s, admit the prospect of taking on this new venture and the sizable debt attached to it is "scary." Luckily, they have a son who is working with them to continue the longtime family business.

Since the Share Convalescent Home facilities are newer and larger, the Jordans plan to move Beadles residents to that facility. Before that occurs, there is work to be done. The convalescent home has been working on plans for a new HVAC system. The Jordans will implement those plans and do other work to prepare rooms.

They will start in the empty west wing of the building. When those rooms are ready, current Share residents will be moved there so they can tackle the rest of the facility. Then residents from Beadles will be transferred to the Share location as rooms are readied.

Dayna expects to spend a lot of time at the Share location as they work on renovations. The Beadles staff will also eventually move to the Share building. Dayna said they have been enlarging their staff in preparation for the changes. They currently have seven staff members attending LPN school.

During the transition, both facilities will be operating their kitchens. All the laundry will be done at Beadles since Share Convalescent doesn't have a laundry.

The Jordans said one of their concerns was about a state inspection occurring during the transition. That concern has been alleviated because Share Convalescent completed their annual compliance survey in good form. According to Share's Facebook post, they had the best survey outcome since the 1980s with only one issue keeping them from being perfect. They couldn't provide a particular required Medicare payroll report because their payroll system wasn't able to generate it. They had zero care deficiencies.

As they walked through the halls at Share Convalescent Friday, the Jordans saw several residents they've known over the years. Dayna talked about what a responsibility and honor it is to care for these patients they have known so long.

Eventually the building at Noble Street will be empty. The Jordans, who live just across the street, said it will not seem right to see the building dark at night. Dayna spoke of how easily she could walk across the street to check on things. They don't know what they'll do with the building once it is empty. They have some ideas and are praying for the right solution.

Some History

William and Bessie Beadles bought the acreage at Noble and Logan Streets in 1917. William worked as a carpenter while Bessie provided nursing care to numerous elderly Alva residents in their own homes.

In 1927 they opened their home to those unable to care for themselves beginning with three elderly patients. By 1944 when William died, they had sixteen patients in four small cottages on Noble Street. Two years later a 14 room house was moved onto the property to care for more.

In 1961 their children opened a modern fireproof facility on one level with no stairs. Since then, the building has grown with the addition of the north wing and other improvements.

Share Convalescent Center was originally opened by The Methodist Home of Alva, Inc., on August 1, 1965 with 42 beds. In October 1969, 38 additional beds were opened for occupancy. The center is currently owned by the City of Alva and operated by the Alva Hospital Authority.

(The above history is from "The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma."