History
In 1958, the board of directors of Vocational Hospital in south Minneapolis, used largely for training nurses, asked Pastor Reuben K. Youngdahl if Mount Olivet Lutheran Church would be interested in assuming the $17,000 debt on their building and turning it into a nursing home. The immediate recommendation of the church council was, “Go for it!” The hospital board of directors unanimously approved the property sale.
The building was old and would need to be replaced, but that purchase was the beginning of what today is Mount Olivet Home and Mount Olivet Careview Home.
Pastor Reuben Youngdahl’s contacts with the business and financial community helped make it possible to get a mortgage for expansion and a new structure was built providing private rooms for 94 seniors in need of assistance with the tasks of daily living.
In 1960, Mount Olivet Home was dedicated. Building additions were made in 1963 and in 2004, when all the rooms were remodeled and a secured memory-care unit was created.
In 1965, the original Vocational Hospital was torn down and replaced by a new three-story skilled care facility serving 150 residents and known today as Mount Olivet Careview Home. The name itself is significant because the architectural design called for each of the three floors to have a nursing station in the center from which each room could be “viewed.” In 1990, a $2 million capital campaign and a bond issue provided funds to remodel the three-bed rooms into two-bed rooms, build the Lund Chapel, and create a secured memory-care unit.
In the mid-1990s, the board of directors determined a need for adult day services for the community. As the concept evolved, child care became a component, and Mount Olivet Day Services located at 5601 Lyndale Avenue South was dedicated in 1995. In 2022 the child care component was ended and the focus set exclusively on adult day services. Since 1995, Mount Olivet Day Services has served hundreds of adults seeking therapeutic activity, socialization, health monitoring, and educational enrichment through weekday programming.
In November of 2013, a new 16-bed Transitional Care Unit, offering short-term rehabilitation and nursing services, opened to meet the needs of hospital patients who required additional care and therapy services before returning home.
The largest building project in the history of Mount Olivet Careview Home began in July of 2016. With funding from the state of Minnesota, the sale of bonds, and donated capital campaign funds, construction began with the building of a five-story tower between Mount Olivet Careview Home and Mount Olivet Home. The next phase of the building project began with the renovation of the original Careview building. In a series of four phases, residents were moved into the new building while their rooms at Mount Olivet Careview Home were completely renovated. In May of 2018, construction was completed with the following upgrades to the Careview Home building:
- 55 private rooms and 48 semi-private rooms
- 24-bed Transitional Care Unit
- New rehabilitation therapy center
- New and enhanced dining rooms and lounges
With the completion of this major project, Mount Olivet Careview Home is well-prepared to provide quality long-term and short-term care to seniors, well into the future. Mount Olivet Adult Day Services, Mount Olivet Home and Mount Olivet Careview Home are nonprofit, interdenominational corporations affiliated with Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis. Oversight is provided by the board of directors, composed of volunteers concerned for people in need of long-term care.
