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About Salem Home
Salem Home is a free-standing, not-for-profit nursing facility providing 24-hour nursing care as well as meaningful activities, social services, restorative nursing and Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy. We are a Medicare and Medicaid Certified facility offering private and semi-private rooms with varying sizes.
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Salem Home embraces the person-centered care model popular in today’s progressive health care market. We strive to adapt to seniors’ lifestyles with an emphasis of putting the person before the task, and encouraging seniors to choose the way care is delivered. Our programs have given us the distinction of two PEAK (Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas) Awards in recent years.
The Administration and staff are united in our commitment to serving our seniors and to providing daily opportunities for life enhancement and growth as we assist and care for them. Providing person-centered care is at the heart of that commitment and it is a privilege to not only care for our seniors, but to share in their lives each day. They teach us so much in our journey of culture change and they continually provide us with ideas and inspiration in providing the best care possible.
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The Dining Services department offers flexible meal times with restaurant-style dining and salad bar daily. This provides a variety of meal choices and resident preferences are solicited by the staff through resident council meetings on a regular basis. Suggestions are also welcome from family and staff members.
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The Life Enhancement Team offers several different programs to meet the needs of seniors at various different cognitive, psychosocial, spiritual and physical ability levels. They partner with the Restorative Nursing department to coordinate these programs to ensure each resident receives quality, meaningful interactions and stimulation
Meet Our Staff
Click on any of our staffs' photos to learn more
Peter Mungai
Chief Executive Officer
Jodie Hamm
Director of Nursing
RN, RAC-CT
Mieka Bartel
MDS Coordinator / ADON
RN
Heather Crocker
Director of Finance
Angie Zaragoza
Director of Food Services
CDM, CFPP
Luella Cochran
Medical Records
LPN
Virgilene Weber
Social Services / Human Resources
Mike Hamm
Director of Environmental Services
Lisa Donahue
Marketing / Fund Development
Angie Williams
Activities & Life Enhancement
History of Salem Home
Salem Home has a long history in caring for residents.
The settlers of the Hillsboro community gave early expression of their faith in God and of their gratitude for His blessings by building churches and schools. The feeling of the need for a hospital to serve the physically sick was also present almost from the beginning.
1880
Brother Tobias Martin and Sister Amanda Dohner from Pennsylvania contacted Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church in Marion County, Kansas about establishing an Orphans Home, which later became a Home for the Aged.
1889
On March 17, the institution was dedicated to the service of the Lord, as a Home for the Friendless and the Homeless. The State of Kansas granted a charter to this new institution later that same year. It was decided that the K.M.B. Church and Bro. Martin would jointly carry on the work of this institution. The conference gave the home the official title of the “Industrial School and Hygiene Home for the Friendless.”
1893
October 23, the Conference decided that a larger building was needed for the home. By October 18, 1896, the building was completed and dedicated for service.
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For about 20 years, this Institution was the Home for Aged and Friendless people. It was unique in its organization and with the 105 acres of land, it was more or less financially self-supporting. But what made it a real home for the aged and the friendless, was the Love of God in the hearts of those in charge. They worked hard and faithfully, doing their work as unto God and not unto man. God richly blessed the institution.
1915
On May 10, the institution was re-chartered under the new name of Salem Home and Hospital. Some of the rooms were re-arranged and equipped to serve as hospital rooms. Arrangements were also made and equipment installed to take care of minor and major surgery.
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Limited space was available for hospital service in the home and more room was badly needed to carry on. During the years 1917 and 1918 a new hospital building was erected, sponsored largely by the K.M.B. Conference but financially also supported by the other churches in the community and by the City of Hillsboro.
The original Old Home for the Aged that was built near Hillsboro in 1896 was struck by lightning on April 19, 1944 and “was completely destroyed by the resulting fire, after all the inmates (as they were referred to in those days) of the home as well as some of the contents had been removed.” The most needy patients were immediately moved into what was then known as the Annex to the Hospital and this division was then for many years known as The Salem Home.
1945
On February 14, the temporary Home for the Aged organization invested some of the money received from the Salem Home and Hospital Corporation in the purchase of what was then known as the Mission Home.
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During the years that had elapsed the Hospital in Hillsboro, operated by the Salem Home and Hospital Corporation, had become too small for the community needs and was also found to be inadequate as far as equipment was concerned. Many in the community felt that a new, larger and better equipped Hospital was needed in this community. The new hospital was completed in November 1956.
1945
On February 14, the temporary Home for the Aged organization invested some of the money received from the Salem Home and Hospital Corporation in the purchase of what was then known as the Mission Home.
During the years that had elapsed the Hospital in Hillsboro, operated by the Salem Home and Hospital Corporation, had become too small for the community needs and was also found to be inadequate as far as equipment was concerned. Many in the community felt that a new, larger and better equipped Hospital was needed in this community. The new hospital was completed in November 1956.
1957
Remodeling plans to change the old hospital building into a Home for the Aged were immediately made and in late November the actual remodeling work got under way. Residents moved in on May 6, 1957.
1975
A new addition was added to the hospital and dedicated in 1975. Residents from the Home for the Aged were moved to Salem Home.
1988
Home Health was offered at Salem Hospital, Inc.
1992
New Life Development Center was added in 1992. The geriatric psychiatric unit was one of the first in the state of Kansas and remained a top quality facility until December 2002,
2003
It was determined there was a need for Alzheimer’s/Dementia care in Marion County. Salem Home (at the time still known as Hillsboro Community Medical Center) closed the geriatric psychiatric unit and reopened as a Special Care Unit January 2003, offering cares specific to people with Alzheimer’s/Dementia illnesses.
2010
In February, administration decided to eliminate the separation of residents with the Alzheimer’s/Dementia illness and our other residents. The doors separating the two units were removed, and Salem Home became one overall community.
2024
Salem Home continues to provide the care, quality, and dignity that sets it apart from other retirement communities in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
About Hillsboro, Kansas
Hillsboro is located in Marion County, where the North and South Cottonwood Rivers join. The town has a four-year liberal arts college, and a nice downtown shopping area. For major events, the town goes all out to put on a folk festival in late spring, a four-day fair in the summer and a huge arts and crafts festival in the fall.
Marion Reservoir, a Corps of Engineers lake with approximately 4,100 acres of project lands, is just north of US 56 and provides a wealth of recreational opportunities including hunting and is especially well known for its fishing.
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Hillsboro is nestled among three famous trails. Pioneers traveled the Gnadenau Trail to settle the area in 1874. During the 1860s – 70s, ranchers drove cattle from Texas up the Chisholm Trail just West of Hillsboro to Abilene. Throughout the 1800s, merchants drove supplies west along the Santa Fe Trail North and West of Hillsboro, which is located on the Auto Tour Route of the trail.
A Sign of Excellence...
Salem Home has won the coveted PEAK Award, granted to only select retirement communities by the Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services... Twice! Salem Home received the awards for offering excellent alternatives for residents.
