Senator Collins Tours Woodlands Senior Living in Farmington
Click HERE for a high-resolution photo of State Senator Russell Black, Woodlands Program Coordinator Holly Barron, Woodlands Program Coordinator Dawn Rockwell, Senator Susan Collins, Woodlands Executive Director Marcie Barnes, Woodlands Program Coordinator Barbara Mears and Woodlands Chief Operating Officer Matthew Walters
Click HERE for a high-resolution photo of Senator Collins and Woodlands Senior Living residents William "Butch" Graves
Click HERE for high-resolution photo of Senator Collins and a resident of Woodlands Senior Living
Farmington, ME — Yesterday, U.S. Senator Susan Collins visited Woodlands Senior Living of Farmington to tour the location’s communities and meet with residents, staff, and management. The facility provides assisted living and independent living private apartments for seniors as well as Franklin County’s first specialized memory care facility serving individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
“As the Chairman of the Aging Committee, I know how important it is for seniors and their families to have local access to quality assisted living and memory care,” said Senator Collins. “It was a pleasure to meet with the residents as well as the caring and compassionate staff at Woodlands Senior Living in Farmington to learn more about this great facility. I will continue to advocate for policies that support Maine seniors and assisted living communities.”
“We are thrilled to welcome the Senator to Woodlands Senior Living of Farmington,” said Woodlands Senior Living Chief Operating Officer Matthew Walters. “As Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, Senator Collins is an advocate of providing access to high-quality senior care to all of Maine families—something we have been committed to for the past forty years, and continue to strive toward.”
As Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee and as a Senator representing the state with the oldest median age, Senator Collins is particularly focused on the well-being of America’s seniors. She is leading the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA), which has been critical to improving the lives of older adults and is due to expire in September of this year.
Senator Collins, a founder of the Alzheimer’s Task Force in the Senate and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, secured an additional $425 million—the largest increase in history—for Alzheimer’s research, bringing our total investment to $2.34 billion in FY 2019. In March, Senator Collins joined bipartisan groups in introducing the Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Act, which would allow Alzheimer’s patients younger than age 60 to access critical support programs and services, and the Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act, which would help expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to a care planning session if they are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Additionally, Senator Collins introduced the Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation to increase the number of geriatric health professionals and direct service workers to support our aging population.
Established in 1980, the family-owned and operated Woodlands Senior Living serves more than 500 residents in eight locations throughout the state. The Farmington facility features a 58-bed assisted living community with both private and shared rooms, as well as 22 upscale independent living private apartments. The facility also includes a memory care unit that was built in 2017 to addresses the unique needs of individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other memory impairments.
