By Jason Bolton – Data Editor, Memphis Business Journal Aug 19, 2020, 12:56pm CDT
Updated Aug 20, 2020, 12:08pm CDT
A local physician’s practice area and a personal experience converged to bring a new memory care concept to the metro.
Memphis neurologist Dr. Salman Saeed sees dementia and Alzheimer’s patients in his practice. But, his familiarity with those diseases extends to his life outside of work, as one of his own family members suffers from dementia and needs extensive care.
A few years ago, Saeed and his wife Ghazal began investigating dementia care companies. While researching options for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, the idea to open a memory care-focused assisted living facility here began to take shape.
They settled on Boise, Idaho-based BeeHive Homes, which has more than 170 facilities in 19 states. The Saeeds partnered with local couple and entrepreneurs Rooziman and Nighat Shah to open a 21-bed BeeHive location in Collierville.
In the Mid-South, BeeHive has nine locations in Mississippi and in addition to the Collierville location, one in Knoxville.
BeeHive Collierville will be on Wolf River Boulevard on a roughly 3-acre site. The facility will total about 12,000 square feet when complete, and will serve as an adult daycare for about 10 patients in addition to its 24-hour residents.
Including the land and the facility, the BeeHive Collierville project will cost about $4 million and is expected to be completed later this year.
A second phase for the facility could add more licensed bed capacity if needed, Saeed said. But, one aspect of BeeHive’s model that attracted him was its emphasis on personalized care. So, the intention is to keep the facility small.
The largest BeeHive facilities are home to only 25-30 residents.
“The way they do interaction activities for their residents is somewhat different, a little bit more hands-on. … And, as this is a smaller facility, you have a much better employee-to-resident ratio,” Saeed said.
A couple other aspects of the BeeHive model are noteworthy. Their facilities have a few double occupancy rooms for elderly couples if both have memory care needs.
And, BeeHive has a software that family members can access 24 hours a day and see if a loved one had medication administered, when they had meals, and other care details.
Most of BeeHive Collierville’s staff will be hired closer to the opening date, but the hiring process for some positions on the management, administrative, and marketing side could begin this month.
Saeed and the Shahs hold area rights from BeeHive for the Memphis metro. And, their BeeHive holdings may eventually go beyond the Collierville location.
“After we finish this center and successfully run it, we are looking into expanding to different parts of the city and maybe North Mississippi,” Saeed said. “Once you’ve done it, then, a lot of [BeeHive] owners do have two or three facilities.”
