The Summit of Blue Ash provides residents with an active retirement experience
When visitors walk into The Summit of Blue Ash, they’ll find a busy bistro, with residents enjoying coffee or a light lunch; a packed lobby, where people wait to be taken on an excursion; and a bustling hallway, full of residents heading toward their next activity. The Summit of Blue Ash is out to prove that living in a retirement community doesn’t have to mean slowing down.
“We like to call it paradise for seniors,” says Russ Conrad, executive director.
“When we tour people, the big thing is there’s people everywhere,” adds Patricia Greiwe, director of Sales and Marketing. “They’re just like, ‘Wow. When I walk in places. I never see people.’ And this one’s just crazy. It’s just so social. It’s just so active and so passionate.”
The Summit of Blue Ash is a retirement community located in Blue Ash’s Summit Park that offers independent and assisted living as well as memory care. It has developed its active, social community by giving residents lots of activities, places to socialize and opportunities to follow their passions in a hospitable atmosphere. “The hospitality piece is critical for what we do. All of our staff has that, whether you are housekeeping or the bistro or serving or a caregiver at the front desk. Summit Hospitality is what we call it. It is just being inclusive and making sure everyone feels welcome,” says Conrad. For example, Conrad is known for delivering packages directly to residents and even cleaning residents’ cars off after a snowstorm.
“I like to think that we go the extra mile,” says Greiwe.
The amenities offered by The Summit are numerous and include the bistro (where residents can enjoy coffee in the morning, light lunch in the afternoon and happy hour in the early evening), game room, court yard (where residents can garden) with fire pits, movie theater, reservable space that can be used for group activities or family gatherings, three dining rooms, golf simulator, art studio; nurse practitioner; hair salon and spa; outdoor grill and bar with Bocchi ball; fitness center and physical therapy; and indoor pool.
While residents can find plenty to do on their own, The Summit also offers a full slate of activities that are driven by resident interest. There are group activities at The Summit, like chair volleyball and painting classes. There are excursions to local attractions, like trips to the art museum, and shopping trips to Kroger and Dollar Store. And if a resident wants to start a new activity, The Summit wants to help them make that dream a reality.
“That’s our responsibility to help create an environment around that. We have a resident, she was like, ‘Oh, I’ve always sung in choirs.’ We didn’t have a choir, but now we do. When she moved in, no one had requested that before. We weren’t sure what the participation was going to be. Now we have like 15 people in a choir, and they’ve had little performances around the community. The resident that moved in, that gave her purpose. That’s her kind of little baby that she’s growing here at the community,” says Conrad.
The Summit also likes to keep residents happy with their living spaces. Independent units are spacious, with each having a big, fully equipped kitchen; washer and dryer; personalization options; and bathroom attached to each bedroom. The facility is also pet friendly.
“The interesting thing, too, with independent living, is we keep a really good eye on our independent people. If we don’t see them by 10, we do call them. … We call them and if they don’t answer, we come up to make sure that they’re okay. It’s more of a personal touch,” says Griewe.
Assisted living units are similar to the independent living ones, with the main difference being no island in the kitchen.
Memory care is also offered, with an emphasis on the Montessori method. “It’s very, very hands-on. And our memory care residents, we’re really taking that approach that we want to be able to continue to live life and to have a normal routine,” says Conrad. “It’s really part of keeping folks moving, keeping folks engaged. And for memory care residents, it’s certainly developing habits that are going to keep their brain moving as much as possible.”
While The Summit of Blue Ash is proud of its amenities and activities, it sees its proximity to Summit Park as one of its biggest pluses.
“There’s no other community in the city that has what we have. We have a little city amongst us right here, and it’s safe. I would feel comfortable with my 85-year-old mother walking down the street here to get some ice cream or go to Sugar N Spice with her girlfriends for breakfast and then take a walk in the park. It’s very safe,” says Conrad.
Residents also have easy access to the events held at Summit Park, including Red, White & Blue Ash.
Summit Park’s community setting has also seeped into The Summit, with the facility offering events that the community can attend.
“I want to create this as a community hub for all seniors in the Blue Ash area, whether you live here or not. We have quarterly events. We [had] our St. Patrick’s Day party and we [had] a hundred guests come in. Whether they move in with us or not is completely irrelevant to me, to us. We just want them to have an experience. You’ll be able to come here and feel like normal for a minute and to be able to have some socialization,” says Conrad. “That’s important to us in the future as we build that [we have a] reputation that seniors and families are always welcome here. And that we’re giving people purpose and making this stage of their life as comfortable and rewarding as possible.”
