To provide a continuum of healthcare services from birth through old age, Gifford purchased the former Tranquility Nursing Home in 1993 and reopened it as Gifford Elder Care. Spread over two-stories the building was cramped, outdated, and inefficient, so we began planning for an upgrade.
We opened a new 20-bed, single-level unit in 1999. Renamed the Menig Extended Care Facility this hospital-based facility offered bright and spacious resident rooms plus an activity/dining room which opened onto a new Courtyard Garden. In 2006, we expanded again, adding ten more beds, a beauty shop, family room, and additional activity space.
While we solidified our commitment to caring for our seniors in the early 90’s, by 2014 we realized our community had a gap in senior services – a crucial step between traditional housing and nursing home care. Far too many of our dedicated volunteers, neighbors, and family members were moving away because of a lack of local senior housing. And we quickly realized we were already positioned to help fill this need.
So we set out to create a new community; one dedicated to seniors at all stages of life, yet still embedded in the region they love. In 2015, we moved Menig (now called simply Menig Nursing Home). It became the anchor of our new Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community in Randolph Center with a spacious 27,840 square-foot, 30-bed facility overlooking the picturesque Green Mountains.
A Generous Gift, A Lasting Legacy
Gladys and Howard Menig once lived in Florida but spent their summers camping at Lake Champagne in Randolph Center. While here they developed a strong bond with their Gifford primary care provider, Dr. Ken Borie, and eventually chose to purchase a home in Braintree. When we kicked off our Campaign for Gifford in 1997, the couple decided to invest in their local hospital’s dream to build a new nursing home. It was because of this generous gift that we chose to name our new facility after them.
A few years later, when Howard’s health began to decline, he became a Menig resident and Gladys visited him nearly every day. She often commented that Gifford, and Menig, just “felt like home.”
When we moved Menig from the village up to Morgan Orchards we chose to continue the legacy of Gladys and Howard, a couple dedicated to the future of their community.
