The Gardens at Episcopal Homes sits in Saint Paul, Minnesota, at 1860 University Ave W, tucked into the Merriam Park neighborhood, and serves older adults with different types of care, whether someone needs skilled nursing, memory care, assisted living, or support for independent living, you'll find six certified beds available in June 2025 for folks who need skilled nursing, and the community has a high occupancy rate that tells you people stay here long-term. The whole place follows a Green House Model, so each home holds up to 10 residents in private rooms with private bathrooms, and there's a strong focus on person-centered care, which means everyone's daily choices and comfort matter, and staff work to give dignity and support with transfers, bathing, dressing, and medications. Meals get cooked right in the homes' kitchens by professional chefs, and dining happens in one of several restaurant-style dining halls or in the smaller household kitchens if someone prefers, and there's lots of options for different diets or allergies, and folks can eat when they're hungry with all-day dining.
The Gardens has nurse staffing that's strong, with 12-16 hour nursing care on-site, a 24-hour call system, registered nurses, and a team that includes speech therapists, dieticians, and pharmacists, and if someone is coming in for rehab, they can get physical, speech, and occupational therapy right here. The community gets high marks on nurse quality, holds an A grade from inspections, and consistently gets a 5-star CMS rating, and there haven't been any severe deficiencies found. Residents can use underground parking garages, take advantage of transportation services, and friends and family can always find a parking spot.
The whole place has accessible walking paths, gardens, outdoor patios, a warm water therapy pool, and lots of spots to sit outside, and inside there's a movie theater, game room, fitness center, community rooms, beauty salon, spa, small library, and a chapel, and you can take part in movie nights, music, art classes, game nights, and daily scheduled activities led by the Active Living staff. Resident-run activities happen along with community-sponsored ones, so everyone can join in or even lead a group if they like, and the activity calendar tries to support social, creative, and spiritual life so people can keep busy and make friends. Residents can get help with housekeeping, laundry, linen services, and move-in assistance, and there's family support, concierge service, and a community pharmacy on site.
Rooms come furnished with private bathrooms, kitchenettes, cable TV, phones, air conditioning, and high-speed internet, and the place lets folks bring in pets, covers legal protections for housing and employment, and respects all residents' rights. People pay by rent, which covers some utilities, and the community accepts both Medicare and Medicaid, so financial access is a focus, and they offer respite care for people who need a short stay. Episcopal Homes, as a non-profit, works to create a warm, welcoming environment, and the staff is mostly made up of CNAs, known as Shahbaz here, who help just two residents each per household, so lots of care is given on a personal level. If someone's looking for a simple, supportive place in St. Paul with different levels of care, private rooms, good nurse staffing, and a record of high quality, The Gardens at Episcopal Homes tries to give all that in one spot.
