Two decades have flown by. This year marks our 20^th anniversary of assisted living excellence at Grand Oaks. We’ve made so many wonderful memories and accomplished so much during that time—all with the help and support of our staff, our residents and their families, and our community.

Thank you for all of your continued support.

As part of many 20th anniversary celebrations taking place across Grand Oaks, here are 20 things about us you may not know.

1. The concept for Grand Oaks first came about when Bob Sloan, now retired, arrived as the new CEO of Sibley Memorial Hospital in April 1985. After touring the entire 12-acre campus, he envisioned some type of long-term care facility.
2. At that time, members of the hospital’s Board of Trustees wanted him to build a nursing home using a medical model, but he resisted that approach. It didn’t fit the Sibley profile or neighborhood, he says.
3. Instead, 11 years later, at a conference in San Antonio, Texas, he learned about the concept of assisted living from speaker Jim Moore, president of senior living and healthcare consulting firm Moore Diversified Services, Inc. Immediately, Bob knew that’s what the community needed.
4. Bob was seated next to an architect from Chicago at that conference. That evening, he invited Jim and an architect to his hotel, and together, they planned the concept of Grand Oaks.
5. At the time, there was no assisted living community like Grand Oaks on a hospital campus in the Washington, D.C. area. Grand Oaks really was ahead of its time.
6. Bob attributes his ideas for Grand Oaks, as well as Sibley Senior Association (founded in the late 1980s) and other senior programs, to his early years as the administrator of an extended care facility. He learned a lot about the needs of seniors and always had a great appreciation for all they’ve done for generations that follow them.
7. The ground where Grand Oaks is located used to be an ugly, surface parking lot with a chain-link fence. There was no covered parking on the campus of Sibley at that time.
8. In the fall of 1998, we held a groundbreaking ceremony for construction. It took architects several years to complete construction drawings, obtain building permits, and complete construction.
9. Grand Oaks almost wasn’t Grand Oaks. In 1999, a public relations firm came up with other names for the community, including Spring Valley Manor. Fortunately, Bob shot these ideas down.
10. So, how did we get our name? At the time, Bob planned a family vacation to Branson, Mo., for a country music festival. As they drove past a motel called Great Oaks, Bob thought, “We will have grand people living in our assisted living facility, and Loughboro Road has a canopy of oak trees. The name is Grand Oaks!”
11. On Sept. 26, 2000, the first residents moved into Grand Oaks.
12. When we first opened, there were 104 apartment units, but demand was so great that we enlarged the facility to 139 apartment units in 2006.
13. Today, as we mark our 20th anniversary, we are an award-winning assisted living community. Most recently, in 2018, we received a bronze National Quality Award for improving the lives of our senior residents.
14. About 30% or a third of our staff have more than 10 years of assisted living service. More than 45% have more than five years of service, and almost 70% more than three years.
15. Sibley Memorial Hospital, where Grand Oaks is located, is a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine. This affiliation allows us to complement the care residents already receive with comprehensive, state-of-the-art strategies for each resident’s unique medical needs. You can read all about the benefits of this affiliation here.
16. We have a neighborhood devoted entirely to memory care. The Oasis Neighborhood of Grand Oaks is a comfortable, home-like setting for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory-related disorders.
17. We also offer respite care that caters to transitional needs as residents recover from medical procedures, injuries, and other health-related issues.
18. Residents of Grand Oaks also have access to the Sibley Senior Association. This wellness program focuses on maintaining good health for seniors ages 50 and older and includes benefits like discounts on gift items in the Sibley gift shop, free blood pressure checks, periodic health screenings, and more.
19. We encourage all residents to stay active—that’s why our physical activity directors focus on improving your health with activities, including tai chi, walking club, ballroom dancing, and more.
20. We’re always happy to share our community with others. If you’re interested, we invite you to plan a visit. During COVID-19, we’re offering virtual tours of our community. You can schedule a tour here.

Our 20th anniversary is only the beginning. We can’t wait to see what the next 20 years will bring!