ROCKFORD—Ascension Living Cor Mariae Village, an assisted living center in Rockford, will close on Feb. 28, according to the center.

 

Molly Gaus, vice president Marketing and Communication, Ascension Living, said in an email, “Ascension Living regularly reviews our operations and services to ensure their long-term sustainability. An extensive assessment was conducted to determine how Ascension Living can ensure the long-term viability of our Mission while providing care for older adults in Rockford in the midst of continuing changes across the industry. 

 

“Leadership has spent months working to find a viable way to continue operating both Ascension Living Cor Mariae Village and Ascension Living Saint Anne Place, located approximately 2.5 miles away in Rockford. COVID-19 was not a factor in this assessment, which began before the pandemic.”

 

Current skilled nursing residents are able to apply to Ascension Living Saint Anne Place or other facilities chosen by the residents and their families.

 

Gaus said, “Our team members will work with current residents and family members to ensure a seamless transition. This includes helping independent living and sheltered care residents, and family members identify the appropriate level of care needed and assist with placement into a new community.”

 

The building began as Mount St. Francis Provincial House, opening in 1964 for the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF) after they received permission in 1958 to establish a new, Rockford Province with its own motherhouse. It also served as a novitiate for new sisters.

 

In 1976, construction was begun to convert the building into a health care facility for retired SSSF sisters and was known as Maria Linden. The facility was later opened to the public, and gradually the retired sisters moved to the religious order’s Campbellsport, Wis. facility for aging sisters. 

 

An addition providing skilled care nursing was added to the back of the building after it became part of the Provena system of health care facilities run by three religious orders in the mid-1990s. Two other religious orders joined that gathering of health care facilities and all came under the Presence name. It then was Presence Cor Mariae Center Independent Living, a facility of Presence Life Connections, offering a range of medical and nursing care.

 

A few years ago, the Presence facilities began to be operated under “Ascension Living” with a new owner.

 

No official word has been received on the future plans for the facility.