"Even Though It's in the Neighborhood, I'm 200th on the Waiting List"… Nursing Home in Front of the 'Elusive' House [My Home as a Senior House]

Just 5 Minutes from Home: A Place to Care for My Mother with Dementia
Right Next to the Apartment Complex
Easy Visits and Peace of Mind When Parents Are Nearby
Less Than 50% of Residents Are from Eunpyeong-gu
Over 200 People on the Waiting List
Resident Priority Needed
Elderly Facilities Will Be Built in Redeveloped and Reconstructed Apartment Complexes

On October 24 last year, at the Eunpyeong-gu Municipal Eunpyeong Silver Care Center in Seoul. The Municipal Eunpyeong Silver Care Center is a facility exclusively for elderly care, established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government as the first in the nation to receive a donation of such a facility through a public contribution method in a private development project. It was built in the Susaek 13 District housing redevelopment site. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

If you follow the huge newly built apartment complex in Susaek-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, all the way to the end, you will encounter a new five-story building. At first glance, it looks like a community facility for residents in a completely transformed neighborhood, but in fact, it is a nursing home for elderly people in need of care. The ‘Eunpyeong Municipal Silver Care Center’ opened its doors in May last year. The conditions for admission, such as a monthly fee of about 900,000 KRW and the requirement to have a long-term care grade certification, are no different from other nursing homes.

What makes this place special is something else. It is the first nursing home built on land donated by a redevelopment association. The Susaek 13 District Redevelopment Association donated 2,800㎡ (about 850 pyeong) of land for the nursing home site. The nursing home’s capacity of 75 residents was filled early on. Currently, there are more than 200 people on the waiting list.

"I placed my mother with dementia in a nursing home next to the apartment"

On October 24 last year, elderly residents are watching TV in the living room of the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Han Bomi, director of the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center, is being interviewed at the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on October 24 last year. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Han Bomi, director of the Eunpyeong Silver Care Center, said, "Nursing homes are generally located on main roads away from where people live. But this one is right next to an apartment complex." Because of its accessibility, residents of the apartments where their parents live can visit frequently.

Jungsoo Han (53) is one of them. He recently brought his elderly mother, who was in a nursing home in his hometown of Busan, to this facility. Han said, "Even taking the KTX, it took a whole day for a round trip, so I could only see her a few times a year. Now, I can leave work early in the evening or visit on weekends, so I feel relieved." Having a nursing home just ‘5 minutes away’ from home makes this possible.

Grandmother Lee Boonyeon (76), who directs traffic in front of Susaek Elementary School right across from the nursing home, often finds her gaze drawn to the facility. "Many elderly people live in these apartments. It’s an elderly paradise. If they enter a facility like that in front of my house, even if they get sick, they can live out their days in the neighborhood they know, among familiar people, without loneliness. That’s why I keep looking at it," she said.

To increase elderly facilities in apartments, 'resident priority' must be given

On October 24 last year, elderly people are using the rooftop garden at the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Still, the nursing home staff cannot shake the feeling of indebtedness to the residents. Before opening the nursing home, the most common question staff received from elderly residents living in the apartments was, "If I get sick, can I enter here too?" Each time, the staff had to answer awkwardly, "You can apply for admission on a first-come, first-served basis, but there is no priority." Currently, less than 50% of the residents are from Eunpyeong-gu.

Since the nursing home was built on land donated through the redevelopment association, the association also thinks it would be good if residents could have priority admission. Joo Jae-hyung, head of the Susaek 13 District Redevelopment Association, said, "We received floor area ratio benefits when donating the land for the nursing home," but added, "Still, the land provided cost 20 billion KRW, and building the facility cost another 20 billion KRW, totaling 40 billion KRW."

He argued, "For kindergartens in the complex, 70% of the capacity is allocated to apartment residents. If that’s the case, a certain percentage of the nursing home’s total admissions should also be allocated to residents."

They tried to resolve this issue by meeting with lawmakers and visiting the Seoul city government, but it was always in vain. The reason was that the Long-Term Care Insurance Act for the Elderly does not have any provisions regarding resident allocation. Head Joo pointed out, "If the law is changed to give residents practical benefits, other reconstruction and redevelopment apartments will actively build elderly welfare facilities as well."

On October 24 last year, an elderly person is moving to the rooftop garden with a caregiver at the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The real estate industry also advised that benefits should be given to residents when building elderly welfare facilities in redevelopment complexes. Ham Young-jin, head of the Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank, explained, "There is a regional priority supply system for subscription housing. For example, if houses are built in a land development district in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, 30% is preferentially supplied to Pyeongtaek residents, 20% to Gyeonggi residents, and 50% to metropolitan area residents."

He said, "Just like subscription housing, if a nursing home is built on land donated by the residents of an apartment, there should be a system that grants priority usage rights. It would serve as a catalyst to encourage residents’ positive response to elderly welfare facilities."

On October 24 last year, an elderly person is lying on a bed in a living room at the Eunpyeong Senior Care Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung