Tucson, Arizona-based Watermark Retirement Communities celebrated the opening of its new community, The Hacienda at the River, with a gathering of friends, stakeholders and partners on April 20, 2017. A former horse property located in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills, The Hacienda offers assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation and skilled nursing programs. The community also features on-site equine and horticultural therapeutic programming, plus a spirit of wellness fostered by “Nayas” (a Sanskrit word meaning “person of wisdom, leader and conductor,” states The Hacienda’s website). These special caregivers assist in every aspect of a resident’s day, nurturing deep and warm relationships.

The Springs Courtyard is an inviting space at The Hacienda at the River, Watermark’s new ‘senior living retreat’ in Tucson, Arizona. Collaborations with university-based partners enrich The Springs, the community’s rehabilitation and skilled nursing setting. Image courtesy of Watermark Retirement Communities

The LEED-certified Hacienda development combines the traditions of Spanish colonial architecture with the Southwestern hospitality of the area’s historic guest ranches. The campus occupies nearly eight acres bordering Tucson’s Rillito River. The community’s setting is a retreat of “flowing indoor to outdoor spaces, interconnected by treelined pathways and interspersed with patios, shaded courtyards, gardens and orchards,” according to a Watermark release. A riparian corridor [where land and river interface] is slowly being restored on campus using a greywater (wastewater) system. Amenities and services include, among other things, farm-to-table menus, restaurants, a patio café, a community kitchen, a spa, a theater, a therapy pool, and an on-site visiting stable and paddock.

At the opening celebration, several hundred guests listened as leaders spoke of opportunities that lie ahead for The Hacienda team and its university-based partners to explore questions on what helps create healthy longevity and state-of-the-art best practices for care. Supporting resident care, programming and research are partnerships with equine therapeutic programming pioneer, Barbara Rector (Adventures in Awareness™); the University of Arizona College of Nursing’s Integrative Nursing Faculty Fellowship; the University of Arizona’s Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute; geriatric medicine “concierge” specialist Steven Wool, MD; the University of Arizona Center on Aging; “culinary translator” Rebecca Katz of Healing Kitchens; horticultural guide Jason Welborn; and the Casa de la Luz hospice.

Noting their Hacienda partners and the community concept itself, Watermark President and CEO David Barnes commented previously that he and Watermark Chairman and Developer David Freshwater “believe we will develop compelling and transformative techniques and information to advance well-being for aging adults. As we do, we plan to share our breakthroughs with others throughout our profession and around the world.”

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