Mountainside to open memory unit

Mountainside Senior Living in Crozet is renovating its third floor to accommodate patients with dementia and other neurological disorders that impair memory.

The assisted living home will open a 20-bed memory care unit in November, according to a statement from the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, which operates the facility. The secured space will provide a quieter area for these patients and will be staffed by employees with special training, according to the statement.

Mountainside currently is having difficulty accommodating residents with dementia, said David McNair, a spokesman for JABA.

Patients with dementia, Alzheimer's and other serious cognitive conditions are at risk of walking out unsupervised, McNair said, and need more help from staff to go about their everyday lives. Many patients who begin to show signs of dementia or memory loss are transferred to other facilities, he said.

"They demand another complete level of involved care," McNair said. "It's kind of difficult to have them in with the regular population."

Charlottesville firm Johnson, Craven & Gibson Architects is handling the redesign of the facility's third floor.