Diane and Doug Hudson create a warm environment for residents

Kim Dean
NLJ Managing Editor
 
Many people in the community never fully realize the importance of having an assisted living facility in Newcastle — until they or a loved one actually needs assistance with daily living activities. 
As we age, many of us come to realize we are unable to do for ourselves all that we once could. It is then that we begin the search for help with our daily living activities. Newcastle is fortunate to have resources to assist those in need of assistance. A senior center with congregate dining and home-delivered meals or home health care with some in-home assistance and full-time skilled nursing home care are just a few of those resources.
Another resource, and the only one of its kind in Weston County, is Mondell Heights Retirement Community — known by many as the old hospital on the hill. Diane and Doug Hudson have been the owners of Mondell Heights for the past 10 and a half years, and during that time they have continually made improvements to the facility, and for this reason they have been chosen as the 2019 Persons of the Year. 
MHRC is the assisted living option in Newcastle. Licensed by the state of Wyoming to house 23 residents, Mondell Heights offers more of a family and community atmosphere where residents and staff care and support one another.
“This place is more than an assisted living center, it is a family and community. The staff is so dedicated to the residents. The residents and staff have a friendly neighborly relationship where they care for and support each other as they would have in the larger community. They sit and visit in the hallways,” said Annette Luthy, who is temporarily helping out at the facility.
Luthy was not surprised to learn of the Hudsons’ nomination for the News Letter Journal’s Person of the Year.
“They are truly dedicated to serving people,” she said. “What a wonderful place to live. It’s a very caring and supportive atmosphere. The staff is so well in tune with one another and genuinely care about one another. This is quite a phenomenal place. This is the place I wanted my mom to come to live when she needed assisted living. Diane and Doug are so supportive of the staff and residents. They truly care.”
Luthy met Diane (Baird) Hudson at age 13 when the Baird family moved to Brookings, South Dakota, after residing in Newcastle for 25 years. So the two have shared a lifelong friendship.
Years later, in the 1980s, Diane was living in Seattle, when her parents made the move back to Newcastle. In 1984, she said that Weston County Memorial Hospital moved off the hill and into a new building on Washington Boulevard, where it is presently located. The name was changed to Weston County Health Services.
At that time, Diane was working for a firm called Hillhaven, which developed and operated nursing homes and assisted living facilities. She recalls her mother saying that “you know you could do that work right here.” Diane worked as the project manager to convert the old hospital on the hill into a licensed boarding home for the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) and Rebekahs, which was a private nonprofit corporation owned by the Grand Lodge of Wyoming. The original design concept was to be functional, practical and cost efficient.
“I worked with Jim Fletcher, the city engineer at the time, and Ben Schultz helped with the drawings. We didn’t reinvent the wheel, we worked with what we had. The renovation resulted in suites with one or two rooms (a living room and bedroom).”
Diane explained that she made several trips back and forth from Seattle to Newcastle and enjoyed working on the project. 
“It’s what I did for a living. I was very honored and felt it was a very valuable and important service for the community. It was in 1988 or 1989 when we got it licensed, after construction was complete,” she said.
Years later, on a visit to Newcastle to see her brother, Jerry Baird, a real estate broker, the Hudsons learned that Mondell Heights was for sale. The couple worked on a plan to purchase Mondell Heights. They made their first offer in 2008 but did not complete the purchase until 2010. Diane’s sense of calling may have been tied to her roots in Newcastle, as well as her connection to the building.
“I was born in this building,” she said. “It’s home; it’s where I belong.”
Doug said that it made sense for them to purchase the facility. 
“The board members of the IOOF were well past retirement age, even into their 90s. The IOOF and Rebekahs performed yeoman’s service developing and operating Mondell Heights for over 20 years but knew they wanted to hand off the responsibility,” Doug said. “Many in the community thought the facility could not be maintained for assisted living, but we disregarded the nay-saying and pursued our plan.” Doug believes what really saved the building for continued use was the addition of the gabled roof. The gabled roof was completed the week of Oct. 29, 1987, according to the News Letter Journal archives, during the time Diane was the project manager for the rehabilitation of the facility from hospital to residential care. 
Doug’s background in commercial construction and mall renovation fit well with their newly acquired purchase. He managed the facility’s renovation. During their tenure, they have completely updated the facility.
“It was always our intention to upgrade the license of the facility from boarding home to assisted living. Toward that end, soon after our purchase, I became MHRC’s first CNA and I’ve maintained that certification. And in 2012, again without regard to those who said ‘no, you can’t,’ we achieved state licensing as a Level 1 assisted living facility,” Doug said. 
Doug explained that in order to meet requirements to achieve licensing goals, they had to staff the facility with professional nurses and certified nursing assistants around the clock, 365 days a year. He said the building and the program are regularly surveyed (inspected) by the Wyoming Department of Health.
“In a former career as a professional firefighter, Doug was an EMT, and he brought that training and experience in assessing medical situations,” Diane said.
As he reflected on his career and the many occupations he’s had, Doug said that owning Mondell is “the best thing I’ve ever done.”       
“I’ve been a firefighter, a house parent in an adolescent group home, a mentor, even a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam. I’ve had a lot of jobs and none of them have been as rewarding as this. It is the personal touch,” he said. “We think of Mondell Heights as a family where everyone has a unique personality and it requires all of them to make it work. Community is part of our name. We are all part of that community which is also part of a larger community of Newcastle.” 
It is never easy to lose a member of the family, and Diane teared up while recalling the passing of their very first resident. And while the experience was and is extremely difficult, Doug said he feels that it is an honor that the family and the individual gives, allowing them to be there and share the end of a loved one’s life.
Doug also noted there is never a “dull moment” and that even Cupid has found his way inside the brick walls, where new love has bloomed between residents. 
Doug sees himself in a unique position and one where he can share his sense of humor.
“I have an interesting and unique position, not because I’m the owner, but because I’m a man,” he said. 
“I grew up in a family of 10 kids. I’m fun and I’m loud, and I’m boisterous, and it is my privilege to make them laugh.” 
Residents enjoy his daily dose of humor. 
“We make a big deal for birthday celebrations here. Doug does the birthday celebrations, and he has them (residents) tell the story of their birth which is always fun and entertaining,” Diane said. 
The Hudsons said they have a wonderful staff that has ranged in age from 14 to 83, with some employees having been with them from the facility’s acquisition.
“It is hard work that not everyone can do. You can either do this work, or you can’t,” Diane said. “The best workers love this work and the people they serve.”
“Most people get better when they come here. They get their meds on time and they eat better,” Diane said, noting that more time interacting with others really boosts spirits and enhances health.
The facility was recently certified as a Medicaid provider. 
“We are licensed for 23 residents and currently have some spots available. We have 20 suites and can take couples,” said Diane.
Diane said she has worked in human services all her life and that owning Mondell Heights has been the closest thing to seeing a dream realized. She said that witnessing the impact that added daily care, compassion and laughter has in a person’s life is really the best thing she’s ever done.
“To have a resident’s family member come up to me and say, ‘I am so thrilled and relieved that my mother is happy here,’ really impacts you,” Diane said. 
Many factors pulled Doug and Diane to buy and operate Mondell Heights, inevitably pushing them to their destiny of giving up the corporate big city life to reside in Newcastle and provide an important service – the only assisted living option for the community.