2024 FRATERNITY REPORT
Masonic Homes Report: Home at Last
In Covina, the Citrus Heights Health Center is ushering in a new era for the Masonic Homes.
Download the Masons of California 2024 Fraternity Report here, or view individual stories through the links below.
The residents, staff members, and administrators were standing by, ready to ring their bells and clang their various noisemakers. A sense of excitement hung over the crowd who’d gathered at the Masonic Homes’ retirement community in Covina for a moment that by then had been years in the making. At last, the guests of honor arrived and were wheeled into the library, and the party could begin in earnest.
The May 2024 return to the Covina campus of eight former residents, each of whom had been outplaced in order to receive skilled nursing care at other facilities, was certainly a cause for celebration. But it also represented something larger. In bringing those residents home, where they would be surrounded by friends and in some cases family members, the Masonic Homes made good on a promise that for years animated the entire fraternity. The opening of the Citrus Heights Health Center, the Masonic Homes’ brand-new facility for short- and long-term skilled nursing, means that senior residents are finally able to age in place on the Covina campus without ever having to move outside the community to get the care they require. That means no need to separate couples or friends at what is often a difficult time of life. “It’s the culmination of the Let’s Write the Future campaign, which was driven by a passion that couples and families should never have to be separated because of their care needs,” says Terry Quigley, CEO and president of the Masonic Homes of California. “That’s really what drove the building of the skilled nursing home in Covina, and we were able to deliver on that belief and promise to bring those residents back home.”
Above:
The exterior of the Citrus Heights Health Center in Covina features natural wood and a welcoming patio.
In what was a transformative year for the Masonic Homes, the opening of the Citrus Heights Health Center was without a doubt the high point. The state-of-the-art skilled nursing facility is designed for those in need of around-the-clock nursing support. Featuring a first floor for Masons and their spouses requiring long-term care and a second floor for short-term rehabilitation (which is open to the general public), the Citrus Heights Health Center includes a wide range of services, from physical, occupational, and speech therapy to memory care and all manner of support for those who need help with daily activities.
Beyond the medical services on offer, Quigley stresses the importance of the emotional bonds that residents make within the Covina community. “Our Masonic families and friends can now stay together, which is essential to maintaining connections, feeling loved and supported, and having the best possible quality of life,” she says.
That first cohort of residents will soon have a lot more company: In receiving its certification from Medicare in January 2025, the Citrus Heights Health Center can soon begin admitting residents from the general public. Vince Gonzaga, the executive director of the Covina campus and a nursing home administrator, says there’s already a wait-list for the new building’s eight remaining beds. “We’re excited,” he says. “Now we’ll be able to cater to our Masonic residents for all of their skilled nursing needs, which is the reason the facility was built.”
In opening the Citrus Heights Health Center, the Covina campus can now offer the same spectrum of care as does the Masonic Homes’ campus in Union City, where residents are able to progress from independent living apartments to assisted living and skilled nursing settings, if and when they need them. On the northern campus, the Masonic Homes opened the Pavilion in 2021, which is outfitted and staffed especially for residents in need of high-acuity assisted living support, with 24-hour nursing care. Both facilities were built through the fundraising efforts of California Masons.
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Residents in a shared gathering space at the new Citrus Heights Health Center.
Thanks to the new facilities, the overall capacity at the two homes has risen by more than half; meanwhile, the share of those beds has shifted toward higher levels of care. Today, across the two sites, nearly all apartments are dual licensed for assisted or independent living, and the number of skilled nursing and memory-care accomodations has risen dramatically.
With the completion of the new facility, Quigley is also thrilled to be able to reach beyond the Masonic community in Covina to welcome other seniors living in the area. As in Union City, the Citrus Heights Health Center is open to all members of the general public who need high-acuity postsurgical rehab. “For those short-term residents, the goal is not to keep them—the goal is to get them home,” Quigley says. With 32 rooms in total (16 per floor), the space is already staffed with an array of skilled nurses, rehab therapists, and a registered dietitian. Quigley says the Citrus Heights Health Center is unlike any other facility in the area.
“Until now, the Masonic Home at Covina has been a well-kept secret,” she says. But in opening its doors to those outside the fraternity, she says, administrators are now in close contact with other local care providers and hospital networks, opening the door to partnerships and opportunities in the future. “Our campus is gaining a whole new level of visibility, which is allowing our wider community to see and experience what the Masonic Homes of California has to offer,” Quigley says. “Part of how Masons make the world a better place is by providing for people in a time of need. Now we’re making that accessible to everyone—and when we do that, we are sharing the light of Masonry.”
