New Salvation Army housing, medical/dental clinic opens in Rochester

The Salvation Army’s answer to serving the less fortunate in Rochester is now one big $5 million, 33,000 square-foot reality.

Those are the specs of Castleview, a new mixed-use development located in downtown Rochester, just a few blocks from Mayo Clinic. The four-story Salvation Army facility includes 32 single-person apartments for low-income and homeless individuals, and an entire floor of medical and dental services.

The apartments opened March 1, while the medical area opens in early April.

“Years of planning are finally coming to fruition with the opening of Castleview,” said Major Jim Frye, administrator of the Rochester Salvation Army. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to expand our services in southeastern Minnesota.”

Housing
Castleview is The Salvation Army’s first permanent-supportive housing complex in Rochester.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, considering Rochester’s population has catapulted from 85,000 in 2000 to more than 100,000 today. This population explosion has brought with it an increased need for affordable housing.  

“Castleview is a visible and dynamic response to the invisible problem of homelessness in our community,” Rochester City Council President Dennis Hanson said last year.

Each Castleview apartment includes a bathroom, closet, kitchen and bedroom. The facility is guarded by 24-hour supervision and security. Social services support and life-skills education programs are also provided.    

Sixteen of the units are reserved for disabled or homeless persons. The remaining units will be rented to low-income individuals.  

Medical/dental clinic
The Salvation Army has operated a medical and dental clinic in Rochester for years, but both clinics were located apart from each other and lacked sufficient resources.

Through Castleview, The Salvation Army is poised to increase the amount and quality of its medical and dental services.

The new medical clinic will feature six private exam rooms, where volunteers from Mayo and other local clinics will treat uninsured persons suffering from colds, diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments. These patients will receive medications through an on-site pharmacy funded by a Mayo Clinic grant.

Prior to Castleview, the medical clinic operated two nights a week, served about 30 patients a night and filled as many as 4,000 prescriptions a year. These numbers should soon increase.   

As for the dental clinic, it will include three exam chairs and provide emergency dental services, mainly tooth pulling. About half of dental clinic patients lack insurance. The rest have state-provided insurance, a coverage that many private dentists won’t accept because of its low reimbursement rate.

Prior to Castleview, the dental clinic served about 1,250 patients a year. This number should also increase.

“Castleview will allow medical and dental professionals to be in the same space and consult with each other,” said Theresa Adam, Salvation Army medical coordinator. “There have been cases in which patients come in and the dentists don’t know if the person is completely safe to treat. Combining the medical and dental clinics will help solve this problem.”

Castleview is funded by community donations, tax credits, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Greater Minnesota Housing.