AUBURNDALE — Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home is getting ready to welcome dozens of new residents, thanks to the completion of a renovation project that saw the entire fourth floor of the nine-story facility converted into a unit dedicated to the care of patients with dementia.
The fourth floor is now known as Bridget’s Hall and contains 50 beds that the nursing home’s administrators expect to fill quickly. The unit began accepting residents at the end of 2025.
Ozanam Hall, which opened in 1971 and is located in Auburndale, is operated by the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.
On Dec. 16, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto came to Ozanam Hall to dedicate the new unit with a prayer. “Let their hearts remember joy, even when their minds cannot recall the details,” he said, referring to dementia patients. He also walked into each of the unit’s 50 rooms and blessed them with holy water.
The dedication of the new unit follows the opening of two other memory care units at Ozanam Hall: Carmel Hall on the third floor and Cabrini Hall on the fifth floor.
Carmel Hall opened in February, followed by Cabrini Hall in August.
With the dedication of the new fourth-floor unit, Ozanam Hall, a 432-bed facility, now has three floors devoted to providing care for residents with dementia and other cognitive issues. The renovations were funded by a $1 million grant from the Cabrini Foundation.
Like the other two memory units, the fourth floor unit is decorated with brightly colored paintings of candy stores, grassy meadows, beaches, children, and other images meant to put residents at ease.
The design is deliberate, said Sister Philip Ann Bowden, the administrator of Ozanam Hall. Every image was carefully chosen, she explained.
“Dementia is a very difficult disease,” she added. “We try to make the setting as humane, compassionate, merciful, and joyful as possible.”
“The need is there, they’re responding to that need, and they’re responding so well,” Bishop Chappetto said.
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According to the National Institutes of Health, six million people in the U.S. are currently living with dementia, and it is estimated that 43% of Americans over the age of 55 will eventually develop it.
And according to the Alzheimer’s Association, the cost of caring for patients with dementia is projected to climb to $1 trillion in the year 2050.
Bridget Hall is named in honor of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory (1893-1984), founder of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, whose birthname was Bridget.
Sister Philip Ann said the nursing home is run with Catholic principles in mind. “Our duty is to have a respect for life and take care of people from birth to natural death,” she added.
“Ozanam Hall,” Auxiliary Bishop Chappetto said, “is a Christ-centered place.”