In 1963, retired railroad executive Champion McDowell Davis began with his vision to create a positive living environment for aging men and women. This vision inspired him to transform his family’s former peanut plantation into a 54-acre not-for-profit community where seniors choose to live and where employees choose to work.
The Health Care Center at The Davis Community welcomed its first residents in 1966 and has continued to grow in size and scope largely due to the seamless passing of the vision to the board of directors and Davis employees. In 2000, Champions Assisted Living was completed, adding another level of support services and paving the way to a more homelike environment and culture.
In 2010, the Rehabilitation and Wellness Pavilion was added to provide seniors with a state-of-the-art fitness center, outpatient therapies and short-term inpatient care. Today 50 private guest rooms are reserved for persons needing short-term rehabilitation for such conditions as knee and hip replacements or other health needs following a hospital stay.
Mission
To provide health, wellness and rehabilitation services to aging adults in a loving, continuum of care environment in which each resident lives at an optimum level of function and dignity.
Following a year-long strategic planning session involving the Board of Directors, residents, family members, staff, visitors, neighbors, vendors and friends a plan was developed. They would change The Health Care Center from a medical model of care to a household model of care. The vision is based on the belief that seniors in long-term care deserve privacy and choice in their lives rather than living in a hospital-like environment. The decision was made to completely renovate the existing Health Care Center into ten households where residents and staff operate as a family unit. The $26 million construction project began in 2012 and two freestanding houses opened in July of 2013. The other eight houses, including two dedicated to short-term rehab, were completed in 2015.
