MANCHESTER, NH – Birch Hill, located off Hackett Hill Road in the Queen City, has announced an official name change to RiverWoods Manchester.
The city’s only Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), Riverwoods Manchester is an affiliate of the RiverWoods Group, headquartered in Exeter.
“Our name may be changing, but that’s all that’s changing – we are maintaining the warm, welcoming atmosphere that has been our hallmark,” said April Bourdon, Executive Director of RiverWoods Manchester in a press release on Wednesday. “Our new name signals that we are a full-fledged member of the RiverWoods Group, and that you can expect the same excellence of care and personal attention that is evident at RiverWoods, right here in Manchester.”
Many longer-term Mancunians remember the community as Hillcrest Terrace, formerly part of Catholic Medical Center. As for this iteration, RiverWoods Manchester became an affiliate of the RiverWoods Group in 2016. According to the press release, the RiverWoods Group (TRWG) is the largest charitable not-for-profit family of CCRCs in the Granite State. TRWG communities include the flagship campus RiverWoods Exeter, which includes three communities, RiverWoods Durham, which opened in 2019, and the newly re-named Riverwoods Manchester.
Management stated that during the five years of affiliation between the former Birch Hill and its colleagues in the seacoast, the two organizations solidified their relationship by sharing ideas, solutions, and best practices. Through that process, it was discovered that their missions, values, cultures, and connection to residents were strongly aligned, particularly so over the last year when the two worked together to address the many challenges COVID-19 presented to older adults.
Justine Vogel, CEO of the RiverWoods Group said, “We have spent five years working side by side, and especially during the pandemic, we worked so closely together, that it just made sense now to change the name to RiverWoods Manchester. We are much more alike than we are different.”
Billed as a unique housing option for those 62 and older, CCRCs welcome people to enter as independent residents. Once they are part of the community, residents enjoy a variety of amenities from housekeeping, dining, inside and outside maintenance to educational programs and exercise classes, while making friends and cultivating community engagement. As they age, if a resident needs a higher level of care, it is available to them within the same campus.
To learn more about Riverwoods and the CRCC model, please visit: https://rwmanchester.org/
About RiverWoods Manchester
RiverWoods Manchester (Birch Hill) began in 1875 as The Women’s Aid and Relief Society and has evolved through the decades to meet the changing needs of seniors in Manchester, NH. In 2009, the organization became a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community), providing independent, assisted living, memory support and nursing care. In 2016, they became an affiliate of The RiverWoods Group, the largest family of non-profit CCRCs in northern New England.
Chris Dugan can be reached at chrisdugan@manchesterinklink.com
