Catholic Health Care in Portland
Seniors have their pick of Catholic care options in the City of Roses. The Archdiocese of Portland operates three senior communities and oversees some 40 city parishes that offer spiritual, service, and social opportunities for senior parishioners as well as help for homebound elders. Portland is also served by Catholic-founded Providence Health & Services, a regional provider of medical and home health care.
Catholic home care options in Portland
Aging at home is the goal for most seniors, and there are several Catholic services in Portland that can make it easier. Some area parishes, including St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception near downtown, have volunteer Eucharistic ministers who can visit the homebound on Sundays with Communion. St. Mary’s also runs an annual Rebuilding Together event each spring to fix up the homes of low-income seniors in the area.
For seniors who need just a bit of help with housekeeping, shopping, and rides to appointments, Providence Health & Services runs two volunteer programs: Partners for Seniors and Faith in Action. Together, these programs offer rides to doctor appointments and stores, grocery pickup, phone calls, social time, and help to pay bills.
Providence also has several professional home health programs in Portland to help seniors living at home. These include in-home nursing care, specialty pharmacy services for patients taking infusion therapy at home, home medical equipment sales, and medical alert services.
Portland-area Catholic senior communities
When living at home isn’t the best choice, Catholic-run senior communities in and around the city offer a range of care and settings. For those who want to live in the city, Providence ElderPlace runs half a dozen programs around town that use the PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) model. PACE covers coordination of care along with housing, health care, and social services.
Seniors who want a small-town lifestyle with the convenience of Portland nearby can check out the Providence Benedictine campus, about 50 minutes south of the city in Mt. Angel. There, Providence offers a nursing center and Orchard House, a pet-friendly assisted living center that often coordinates fun intergenerational events with Providence Benedictine’s on-site childcare center.
The Archdiocese of Portland operates three senior communities in the city that offer independent living, assisted living, and memory care. St. Anthony Village in southeast Portland offers a continuum of care, with 17 apartments for independent living, assisted living services, and 24 private cottage units for residents who need memory care services. On the same campus, Villa St. Margaret offers apartment living for active seniors, as well as convenient access to St. Anthony Village social programs and church services. Assumption Village offers assisted and independent living at a separate campus in northwest Portland. The villages are open to seniors of all faiths and of all income levels.
Keeping up with local Catholic news
The Catholic Sentinel is the official paper of the archdiocese and the oldest Catholic publication on the West Coast, bringing its audience parish news, special event previews, and more. The Sentinel publishes twice a month online and in print. It’s an easy way to connect with the community and make the most of Catholic assisted living in Portland.
Learn more about Portland Senior Living here:
Portland Low-Income Senior Housing
LGBT Senior Services in Portland
Pet-Friendly Senior Living in Portland
Best of Portland Senior Living
How Much Does Portland Assisted Living Cost?
How Much Do Portland Nursing Homes Cost?
Find assisted living in Portland near you.
Casey Kelly-Barton
Casey Kelly-Barton is an Austin-based freelance writer whose childhood was made awesome by her grandmothers, great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles, and their friends.