HOUSTON – BakerRipley’s Dementia Day Center, Houston’s only day program for people with moderate to late dementia, which was set to close on Oct. 31, is getting a new operator.
BakerRipley will continue to run the center through Dec. 31, 2021, with CarePartners, a Houston non-profit specializing in support and care for family caregivers older adults and individuals with dementia, taking over Jan. 1, 2022.
“When we heard about the BakerRipley Dementia Day Center closing, we knew that we needed to step up. Adding the day center to our service mix is a perfect fit for us. It really fits with our mission to care,” said CarePartners president Katie Scott.
In May, BakerRipley announced plans to close the center, calling it a “strategic redirection of funds.”
“It was just a prioritization for us and inability for us to raise necessary dollars to make it sustainable,” said David Haines, BakerRipley’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer in an interview with KPRC2 News in June.
In a joint press release, the agencies said they are working to provide a “seamless transition and continuity of care,” with CarePartners. The center will be relocating its offices from North Post Oak Road to the Dementia Day Center on Aberdeen Way in southwest Houston.
The news brings a sigh of relief for caregiver families like the Tudelas, who were scrambling to find an alternative.
“It’s a miracle. There really isn’t another place like it in Houston. I couldn’t be happier for my wife and for me,” said Alberto Tudela, primary caregiver for his wife Sonia. In 2015 she was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a type of dementia, and attends the Dementia Day Center five days a week.
Funding remains a key issue even as the new operator takes hold. Scott told KPRC 2 that CarePartners has about 1/3 of the $1.2 million needed for transition costs and operations for the next three years.
The non-profit is in “active discussions” with Houston’s donor community to close the fundraising gap.
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