Christian Homes Inc. plans expansion

[December 04, 2009]  Christian Homes Inc., a chain of 14 senior living communities headquartered in Lincoln, has announced expansion plans for the ministry. The faith-based organization will open a southern regional office in St. Louis next summer to facilitate expansion of senior living facilities into Missouri.

Christian Homes currently has one campus in Missouri and another in Iowa, with the remainder in Illinois and Indiana. The new regional office also will be closer to the Christian Homes campuses located in southern Illinois.

A corporate regional office in the St. Louis area also will allow Christian Homes access to people who have specialized skills in long-term care.

Three or four senior corporate staff members working in the Lincoln headquarters will relocate to the St. Louis office, according to Christian Homes CEO Tim Phillippe. The remaining 50 corporate employees employed in Lincoln will remain in the current location. The payroll, billing, human resources, information technology and development departments will continue to be headquartered in Lincoln. There is expected to be little economic impact on the total annual compensation earned by corporate employees working at the Lincoln headquarters.

Christian Homes, the second-largest not-for-profit long-term health care provider in the U.S., has seen remarkable growth in recent years. The organization's revenue has more than doubled in the past eight years.

A new assisted living home is currently being constructed on the Lewis Memorial Christian Village campus in Springfield. A new skilled nursing unit is planned for the Hickory Point Christian Village campus in Forsyth.

The Christian Homes expansion plans will not affect The Christian Village, the organization's campus in Lincoln.

"Christian Homes is proud to have been headquartered in Lincoln for more than 45 years and will continue its strong presence in the community," Phillippe said.

"This is a positive step," he noted. "We're carrying our ministry forward. We're working to ensure that we will be a strong leader in the industry well into the future. The addition of a southern regional office will allow us to provide compassionate, Christian care to more seniors in more areas."

[Text from file received from Christian Homes]