On a recent Thursday afternoon at Touchmark on South Hill, a sprawling 19-acre retirement community nestled among green, blooming gardens and tall trees, residents gathered around a cheesecake tasting table where they could pick from an array of toppings to add to their dessert. Just beyond them, workers buzzed around as they prepared the Four Seasons Dining Room for the facility’s monthly birthday dinner, featuring a cocktail hour followed by a prime rib feast to celebrate the birthdays of 17 residents. 

For some, the only downside to living there is the sheer volume of things to do. 

“The only time I feel sad is when I learn about an event after it has happened,” says resident Pam Bariletti with a laugh between bites of cheesecake. 

With up to 10 activities a day, from trivia nights to river rafting and parasailing, keeping up is half the fun, says Michaela Thompson, executive director at Touchmark. 

“We are a very active community,” she says. “One resident, who is about to turn 90, went zip-lining last month. He says he’s never done it before and figured that was his chance.” 

That sense of vitality is central to Touchmark’s approach, and increasingly, to the industry at large. As senior living communities move away from institutional models of care, Touchmark is remodeling its facility to reflect that broader shift, Thompson says.  

Located at 2929 S. Waterford, just off east 29th Avenue on Spokane's South Hill, the nearly 400,000-square-foot facility currently offers a mix of independent living, memory care, and soon, two new “stepping-stone” quarters aimed at providing earlier and more personalized cognitive and physical support.  

As reported by the Journal, the retirement community recently began remodeling its skilled nursing facilities to create two new care models_­: Pembrook, an early memory care wing, and Claremont, for an enhanced care assisted living wing. 

Skilled nursing within a retirement facility is akin to a rehabilitation wing where residents can convalesce post-surgery, then return to living in their apartments or homes, says Thompson. However, some of the residents in skilled nursing were not undergoing rehabilitation but were actually in need of enhanced care assisted living. The long-term residents who were residing within the skilled nursing wing will be able to transfer to the enhanced care assisted living wing of the facility once it is complete, she says. 

“With transitioning away from (skilled nursing), with these two neighborhoods, we’ll be able to serve folks longer in their journey,” Thompson says. 

The renovations are expected to take 10 months to complete and are being executed by Touchmark Development & Construction, a subsidiary of Beaverton, Oregon-based Touchmark LLC. Thompson says a projected value of the remodel is still evolving as design and final figures may change. According to a permit application filed with the city of Spokane, the remodel has a proposed value of $5.7 million. 

Even as its care model evolves, Thompson says she expects the day-to-day experience for residents will continue to reflect the community’s tagline, “The Full Life,” defined by service, lifestyle, and connection. 

Thompson, who has been with Touchmark for 26 years, says the community is designed to feel lively and service-oriented with a focus on hospitality. With 307 residents and about 275 staff, the campus maintains a near 1:1 staff-to-resident ratio. That level of staffing, along with a full calendar of resident programming and long-tenured staff, may help explain why occupancy remains consistently between 98% and 100%, she says. 

That experience is shaped not only by the culture but also by the variety of living options on campus, each designed to provide residents with a continuum of care throughout their retirement years. 

On the main building, Touchmark on South Hill offers 118 independent living apartments, ranging from one-bedroom dwellings with a den to two-bedroom, two-bathroom units. These month-to-month rentals include 24-hour concierge service and security, access to the “choice dining” program, daily life enrichment activities, transportation to doctor’s appointments and local destinations, and bi-weekly housekeeping. Optional amenities such as a garage parking space or storage unit can be leased for a monthly fee. Prices for an independent living apartment range from $4,900 to $8,400 per month. Prospective residents must be at least 55 years of age and meet other criteria, such as health and compatibility, before being admitted to the neighborhood.

The community also offers 60 private cottage homes for independent living. About half are located on the main campus, and the other half are situated across Waterford Street. The cottages are occupied via a “residency deposit” model and feature details such as vaulted ceilings, full kitchens, air conditioning, central heating, gas fireplaces, and one or two-car garages. A residency deposit is an initial payment made before a resident can move into a cottage home. 

Touchmark’s assisted living wing, set on the third floor of the main building, offer residents a blend of privacy and accessibility coupled with personalized support to help them with their everyday tasks. The apartments are equipped with private patios, a common area, a family-style kitchen, and large accessible bathrooms with showers. Residents can choose to dine in their neighborhoods or join in meals in the facility’s main dining hall, and they’re encouraged to take part in the facility’s life enrichment and wellness programs. 

The assisted living wing also features centralized nursing support. Licensed nurses are on call 24 hours a day and are overseen by the clinical services team at Touchmark’s central office. 

The memory care neighborhood is located on the first floor of the four-story main building and is designed and licensed to provide support for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Residents of the memory care unit undergo an initial in-depth assessment to determine their care plan, followed by recurring assessments and care conferences. Caring nurses provide daily emotional support and cueing under the supervision of licensed nurses.

The wing mirrors the assisted-living with private apartments, enclosed courtyards, and large family-style kitchens, but adds specially designed elements. LED lighting offers a calming lighting aesthetic and improves energy efficiency, while artwork is selected to promote memory recall, orientation, and stimulation, which is part of a broader memory care approach grounded in research.  

Touchmark on South Hill was established in Spokane in 1991 as the Waterford on South Hill. In 2011, tts parent company, Beaverton, Oregon-based Touchmark LLC, decided to drop the Waterford brand and rename all its facilities Touchmark. Today, the company operates 1 facilities across the country and one in Alberta, Canada. The company serves over 4,000 residents, and is operated by over 2,800 staff with over 500 years of combined industry and hospitality experience in senior leadership.