Company Profile
WesleyLife At Home
Company Overview
WesleyLife at Home is the only provider offering integrated solutions that provide the experience
and successful results to support health and well-being for older adults in their own homes. What's more, our focus on well-being is designed to enhance the independence of those
we serve — and to help them live their lives the way they want to.
Home Health Care
From short-term rehabilitation to physical therapy, with quality of care affirmed by a readmission-to-hospital rate of less than a third of the state or national rates.
In-Home Services
Light housekeeping to meal prep to assistance with medications, we can help make our clients’
days easy.
Transportation
Wesley Wheels provides transportation usingWesleyLife team-member drivers who are specially trained to support older adults.
Nutrition
Meals on Wheels delivers a hot, delicious lunch each day, and our friendly drivers stop and chat for a moment to make sure all is well.
Hospice
For those considering hospice services, we’re here to support patients and their loved ones with our client-centered approach, as confirmed with scores of 100% in the most recent CMS survey on Treatment Preferences Discussed with the Patient, and Beliefs and Values addressed with the Patient.
Public Health
We provide assistance via home care aides or nurses to individuals who meet financial criteria,
with costs on a sliding-fee scale.
Adult Day Centers
Several WesleyLife communities provide Adult Day Services, allowing participants to live
in their homes and attend during the daytime while caregivers are at work or tending to
other obligations.
To learn more or start services, call (515) 978-2777 today!
Company History
Our Beginnings
In 1946, the South Iowa Methodist Church Conference had a vision of providing a retirement home for aging ministers. Using a gift of the Chamberlain Estate in Des Moines, the Conference established Wesley Acres, Inc., as a faith-inspired, non-profit ministry to serve older adults.
Located in the heart of the city, the Chamberlain Estate includes beautiful wooded acreage and the grand Chamberlain Mansion, which was designed by noted architect William George Rantoul. The first residents of the Chamberlain house donated their time and talents to support the operation of the household.
From Wesley Acres' original five residents, WesleyLife has grown to serve more than 10,000 older adults in 11 -- soon to be 12! -- communities in Iowa and western Illinois, and through an array of home-based services and three adult day centers in 15 Iowa counties.
1960s
Halcyon House, located in Washington, Iowa, was added to the family in 1960. It included a nursing wing and 20 independent apartments. Construction was financed by the first FHA loan made in Iowa.
Heritage House, situated in the heart of Atlantic, Iowa, was built and welcomed its first residents in 1962.
Wesley Acres, Inc., was renamed South Iowa Methodist Homes Inc. in 1963.
1980s
In 1987, a corporate reorganization renamed South Iowa Methodist Homes, Inc., as Wesley Retirement Services.
Wesley-Methodist Adult Day was established on the Wesley Acres campus as a joint venture of Wesley and Iowa Methodist Medical Center in 1988.
1990s
The Village in Indianola was built in 1991, and Park Centre in Newton opened a year later, with Willowbrook Adult Day relocating to the Park Centre campus.
2000s
In 2001, Wesley Retirement Services' corporate offices moved from the Chamberlain Mansion to its present offices in Johnston, Iowa.
In 2004, recognizing the need to assist older adults in their homes, Wesley at Home, a Medicare-certified in-home health care agency, was launched in Des Moines to serve Polk, Warren and Dallas counties.
In 2006, Wesley at Home opened in Ames to serve Story, Hamilton, and Boone counties. That summer, Wesley merged with Generations, Inc., a 60-year old senior services organization, expanding Wesley's mission by bringing Meals on Wheels and a variety of personal-care services to lower-income older adults. The new community-based services division was named Wesley Community Services, later WesleyLife at Home.
Wesley extended its mission by offering hospice in the Des Moines, Indianola and Ames areas in 2007.
In 2008, Wesley at Home expanded to serve older adults in the counties of Cass, Guthrie, and Audubon.
In 2009, Wesley Retirement Services announced plans to change its name to WesleyLife — a name that encompasses all we do and reflects a growing focus on providing support and services wherever our clients call home.
Edgewater opened in West Des Moines in 2009, offering resort-style amenities in all levels of living.
2010s
Pella Regional Health Center transferred ownership of Fair Haven East, Pella Manor, and Jefferson Place to WesleyLife on January 1, 2010. Together with The Cottages, these communities are known as Hearthstone, a ministry of WesleyLife.
In 2013, WesleyLife introduced Wesley Wheels, a transportation service in Central Iowa.
In 2014, Hearthstone opened The Cottages, a community dedicated to transforming the experiences of assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. The Cottages were recognized in 2015 as a top Award of Merit recipient in the 19th annual national Environments for Aging Design Showcase.
All WesleyLife locations earned recognition as Blue Zones Designated Worksites in 2015.
In 2017, we saw the grand re-openings of Halcyon House and Heritage House in Atlantic after extensive redevelopments to serve residents in both communities. Also that year, WesleyLife was named Best Senior Living in central Iowa by readers of The Des Moines Register.
In 2018, an expansion project was completed at Edgewater, allowing the community to welcome residents to 33 brand-new luxury apartments. The same year, WesleyLife received the Great Place to Work designation, recognizing its organizational culture as welcoming, affirming, and focusing on helping team members realize purpose and meaning in all they do. In addition, we were very excited to open Brio of Johnston, WesleyLife's eighth community, in fall 2018.
Today
In July 2019, we were thrilled to expand our mission into the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois through WellSpire, our partnership with Genesis Health System of Davenport. Today, WesleyLife employs more than 1,500 full- and part-time team members whose focus is to support the independence, health and well-being of older adults, wherever they call home.