Sisters of Providence sell Mount Saint Vincent property in Holyoke for $2 million

Sisters of Providence Ministry Corp. sold the former Mount Saint Vincent Care Center at 35 Holy Family Road for $2 million, according to deed documents filed earlier this month. The transaction had already been made public and received state Department of Health approval in December 2020. The buyer, iCare Health Network of Manchester, Connecticut, has renamed the facility as MissionCare Holyoke.

New operator iCare will soon begin the process of transferring residents from the soon-to-be-closed Farren Care Center in the Turners Falls section of Montague, said iCare spokesman David Skoczulek. The Connecticut-based provider has 11 nursing homes in that state.

iCare has a $2.3 million mortgage on the property, according to papers filed at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.

With a capacity for 120 residents, the old Mount Saint Vincent facility was built in 1972.

While owned by the Sisters of Providence, the property had been managed by Trinity Health Senior Communities.

Trinity Health received state permission in November to close Farren Care Center.

Tuesday, Skoczulek said there are 79 residents at Farren now. That’s compared with a capacity of 122.

Those 79 residents will be transferred to Holyoke three or four at a time.

“It’ll be really gradual and it may take weeks or months for it to be complete,” Skoczulek said.

Those residents retain rights, he said, and may also choose to find alternative housing and care options elsewhere if they wish. Not all 79 of them may end up making the trip.

The process of closing Farren is made easier by the high rates of COVID vaccinations among both staff and residents at both locations, Skoczulek said.

Management at iCare was able to hire most of the Trinity Health employees from Farren Care Center and from Mount Saint Vincent, he said. And as the process continues he anticipates more hiring.

There are just 51 residents now at MissionCare, the former Mount Saint Vincent, and the total capacity is 120.

Skoczulek said iCare took over management of the MissionCare facility at the beginning of February.