19 Great Reasons Why Baptist Retirement Community is the Senior Living Community of Choice in San Angelo

1. 60-year history of serving elders in West Texas
2. On-site Therapy Department that offers Physical, Speech and Occupational Therapy thus eliminating the need to contract out our residents’ therapy needs
3. On-site pharmacy with free delivery
4. On-campus Health Care Clinic provided through one of San Angelo’s largest healthcare providers, Shannon Clinic
5. Nurse practitioner available to all Baptist Retirement Community residents, through the ON-Campus Health Care Clinic
6. Registered Dietitian on staff to help with the residents dietary needs
7. Multiple living levels to meet your needs such as: Independent Living, Alzheimer's and Memory Care, Long Term and Skilled Nursing Care, Rehabilitation, Home Health, Hospice and Personal Assistant Services
8. Personal Assistance Services that allow residents to remain in their on-campus or off-campus homes longer
9. A fully integrated volunteer program, Baptist Memorials Auxiliary, with over 200 members serving our campus
10. Two nursing communities with a high star rating (as ranked by the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services) five star quality rating system
11. A culture change leader by providing two of the four Green House® Homes in Texas
12. Baptist Hospice available for those during their last stages of life – whether they live on or off campus
13. Certified Nurses Aide classes taught on-campus
14. On-site Wellness Center and programs, computer lab, library, beauty/barber salon, gift shop, thrift shop, sewing room and more
15. Member of TAHSA and AAHSA
16. Spacious, beautifully landscaped 100-acre neighborhood
17. SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program) designation creates a safe employee environment
18. The offices for Baptist Home Health is conveniently located on the Baptist Retirement Community campus to serve our residents as well as those in and around the San Angelo area
19. Life enrichment programs

Baptist Retirement Community History:

Baptist Retirement Community has grown from its beginning as a small hospital into a large continuum of care retirement campus. Elsie Gayer, RN, founded the Center in 1951 when she opened a tuberculosis hospital built on the charitable contributions of several friends. Appropriately, the Center was named Memorials Hospital because many of the contributions had been made in memory of loved ones.

Shortly after the hospital opened, medical advances led to a rapid decline in the number of tuberculosis patients. With the number of empty beds growing, Mrs. Gayer decided to admit an elderly neighbor who could no longer live alone. Soon word spread that the hospital was admitting senior adults for long-term care and the demand began to grow.

In 1957, Mrs. Gayer donated the hospital to the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the name was changed to Baptist Memorials Geriatric Center, reflecting its beginnings from memorial gifts and its new mission of caring for the aging. This began a period of growth as the Center expanded its ministry.

In 1959, the first major addition was made to the Center which included a chapel that has become the hub of the campus, both physically and spiritually. The year 1972 brought the completion of the Scarborough Administration Building and the addition of a nursing wing. The Elsie Gayer Memorial Building was completed in 1966 in honor of the founder of the hospital who served until 1968 as its administrator. In 1981, the Evelyn Linebery Building, which houses a 100 bed skilled nursing unit, was completed. The year 1963 also marked the beginning of a new ministry on our campus: construction of independent living units for senior adults looking to retire in a secure, Christian environment.

Additions to Baptist Retirement Community include:

1959 – Chapel
1963 – Cottages and Duplexes for Independent Living
1966 – Elsie Gayer Memorial Building
1972 – Scarborough Administration Building and Nursing Wing
1981 – Evelyn Lineberry Building
1983 – High Rise, Phase 1 – 1 and 2 bedroom apartments
1986 – High Rise, Phase 2 – Rooms, Suites and Cafeteria
1997 – NorthGate Custom Homes
2001 – Sagecrest Alzheimer’s Care Center (March 2001)
2008 - The Green Houses at Sagecrest (February 2008)

In 2010, Buckner Retirement Services and Baptist Memorial Ministries affiliated with each other bringing Baptist Retirement Community, San Angelo, TX and The Woodlands, Burnet, TX into the BRS family of retirement communities. With the addition of these two communities, BRS provides a host of senior living options in seven locations across Texas. Other Buckner communities besides Baptist Retirement Community and The Woodlands are: Buckner Retirement Village, Dallas in 1954, Buckner Villas, Austin in 1970, Buckner Westminster Place, Longview in 1996, Parkway Place, Houston in 1998 and Calder Woods, Beaumont in 2000. Click here to read more about the history of Buckner Retirement Services.

Baptist Retirement Community offers a full continuum of living and care throughout the campus. Located on a beautifully landscaped campus, Baptist Retirement Community provides housing, services and amenities to more than 600 seniors who choose from a variety of lifestyles all in a spiritually enhanced atmosphere.