As one of Exeter’s largest employers and a nationally accredited CCRC, RiverWoods is often making headlines, locally and around the country.
Aug 18, 2010 Boulders Grand Opening
Jul 14, 2010 Q&A with RiverWoods CEO Justin Vogel from NHBR.com
Mar 30, 2010 RiverWoods in the News
Mar 18, 2010 RiverWoods to Host Art Quilt Exhibit
Mar 17, 2010 First Move-ins at the Boulders
Jul 30, 2009 106.1 Portsmouth Community Radio Interview of RiverWoods
Mar 17, 2009 BusinessWeek Ranks Exeter, NH Among Top 50 Best Affordable U.S. Suburbs
RiverWoods at Exeter recently celebrated the completion of its third community, the Boulders, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and Grand Opening gala on July 13. The ribbon cutting featured speeches from Justine Vogel, RiverWoods CEO, State Senator Maggie Hassan, and Exeter Town Manager Russell Dean. Also in attendance was co-founder and current resident Maryanna Hatch and residents and staff from all three RiverWoods communities.
Read the article from the Exeter Newsletter on the Boulders Grand Opening here and view pictures here.
Justin Vogel, RiverWoods' CEO, was recently interviewed by the New Hampshire Business Review. The interview focuses on RiverWoods newest community, The Boulders, and how the RiverWoods management team was able to weather the recent economic downturn and finance the construction of The Boulders.
The full article can be read here.
RiverWoods has been featured in two recent articles.
The first is from New Hampshire Magazine. This article discusses why people choose to move into a retirement community and highlights many of the benefits that RiverWoods offers. You can read the New Hampshire Magazine article.
The second article, which appeared in the Exeter Newsletter, looks at the opening of The Boulders. This article can be found at Seacoast Online.
RiverWoods at
The exhibit is on loan to RiverWoods courtesy of The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (www.alzquilts.org) and consists of more than 50 quilts that have been traveling the country since August 2006.
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $379,000 since January 2006.
The April showing will be the first time since 2007 that the exhibit has been in
For additional information on Riverwoods at
First Move-ins at the Boulders
Mar 17, 2010
The Boulders has its first residents.
On Tuesday, March 16 the first residents moved into their cottage at RiverWoods at Exeter's newest community, the Boulders. Two more moves are under way today with dozens more scheduled over the next month.
The first move was completed under clear sunny skies. And the new residents enjoyed their first meal in the Boulders Dining Room later that evening.
There are a limited number of apartments and cottages available at the Boulders. For more information call 603-658-1500 or contact us online.
RiverWoods Receives Exemplary Accreditation from CCAC
Sep 18, 2009
RiverWoods at Exeter, the Seacoast region's premier Life Care Community, proudly announced today it's re-accreditation as a Continuing Care Retirement Community from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CARF-CCAC), the nation's only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities.
An organization receiving a five-year term of accreditation has voluntarily put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site inspection that it is committed to conforming to strict standards and procedures.
The peer survey group that completed the on-site survey bestowed seven "exemplary" ratings on RiverWoods at Exeter. The following excerpt from the notification letter describes those ratings:
- Independent residents, through committees, are able to develop and implement programs that they consider important to optimize the quality of their lives. The organization strives to support these efforts and make necessary resources available to ensure that the residents' goals are realized.
- RiverWoods staff engages its residents during the budget process, seeking their input into the assumptions that will be used to develop the final budget.
- RiverWoods adopted a no-smoking policy on campus for staff, which was announced one year in advance of the effective date of the policy. Smoking cessation programs were offered, and approximately twelve employees took advantage of the programs and stopped smoking.
- The resident handbook is available on audiocassette for residents with limited vision.
- The Going Green effort by RiverWoods demonstrates inclusion of all stakeholders in establishing direction of and developing solutions for environmentally friendly actions; for example, the dual flush toilets that save gallons of water, the environmentally friendly carpet and paint that reduce environmental impact, and the reduction of lighting in areas not in use by dimming lights and turning lights off where appropriate that saves electricity.
- The programs and staff consistently work with residents to help them preserve those aspects of their lives and interests that are meaningful to them and enhance the quality of their lives, even as the residents' levels of independence change. That has included preserving a frail resident's social activities, helping a resident continue to have a pet even though staff provided the pet's care, etc.
- The organization truly lives its mission by creating an environment where the residents can optimize choice, self-directions, and self-actualization by continuing to organize and structure their own social, creative, and recreational activities. This is evidenced by the fact that residents structure and manage key aspects of their lives and activities; e.g. libraries, entertainment, and trips; inclusion of residents in organizational planning; ongoing communication from between the residents Outreach Association, the organization, and the staff to support the community efforts of the Residents Outreach Committee that offers monetary support, services, and volunteers to several of Exeter's community service organizations.
Achieving seven exemplary ratings from the peer survey was characterized by a CARF-CCAC representative as "very rare." Justin Vogel, RiverWoods at Exeter's CEO, described the distinction as "a true honor and a testament to the cooperation of our residents, staff and board members in pursuit of our shared mission."
In 1998, just four years after opening its doors, RiverWoods at Exeter earned CARF-CCAC accreditation, making it one of the youngest communities in the nation to earn such a distinction.
RiverWoods at Exeter currently houses 460 residents, in two campuses on 200 wooded acres in Exeter. The individual campuses each offer independent, skilled and assisted living residences, as well as common amenities such as a gym, pool, library, art studios, country stores, meeting spaces and more. All skilled nursing and assisted living units feature private beds.
The Boulders, RiverWoods' newest community, is a 214,000 square foot building, with an additional 24 private cottages. The main building includes 76 independent apartments, and the same common spaces as the other RiverWoods facilities. The Boulders will house at least 150 people when full, and is expected to create 100 new jobs.
"Our goal," Vogel said, "is to maintain the high standards we have in place in our current facilities while growing our community to include The Boulders. We hope that by expanding the programs we already offer and developing new ones as the need arises that our record of ‘exemplary' performance will be recognized again during the next re-accreditation process."
For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF-CCAC website at www.carf.org/aging.
For additional information on RiverWoods at Exeter's accreditation, please contact Cathleen Toomey at 603-658-1587.
106.1 Portsmouth Community Radio Interview of RiverWoods
Jul 30, 2009
Listen to a radio interview conducted on Portsmouth Community Radio (WSCA) featuring Cathleen Toomey, Vice President of Marketing at RiverWoods at Exeter.
Left-click the link below to listen to the interview in your browser, or right-click and select Save As to download the files to your computer.
Portsmouth At Large - RiverWoods at Exeter Interview, Part 1 (Edited)
Running Time: 22:45
File Size: 5.2 MB
Portsmouth At Large - RiverWoods at Exeter Interview, Part 2 (Edited)
Running Time: 18:44
File Size: 4.3 MB
Please note: The above files have been edited from the original version for time and file size considerations. If you would like to listen to the unedited version, please click the link below.
Portsmouth At Large - RiverWoods at Exeter Interview (Unedited)
Running Time: 62:30
File Size: 22.0 MB
BusinessWeek Ranks Exeter, NH Among Top 50 Best Affordable U.S. Suburbs
Mar 17, 2009
Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S. 2009
BusinessWeek ranked the best affordable suburbs in the U.S. state by state. The overall winner? Pewaukee, Wis. Which is the winner for your state?
By: Prashant Gopal
(excerpted - original article)
BusinessWeek used data from Manhattan-based OnBoard Informatics to select one suburb within 25 miles of the most populated city in each state. The recession has flattened home prices across the country, but the idea behind the list is to help readers find the most for their money within some of America's largest metro areas.
We evaluated suburbs on a variety of factors but weighted affordability most heavily. We also considered lifestyle (short commutes, clean air, low crime, good weather, and green space), the quality of schools, and the strength of the local economy. None of the places had populations of more than 60,000 or less than 5,000.
New Hampshire
Best affordable suburb: Exeter
Nearest major city: Manchester
Population: 10,240
Median household income: $54,969
Median home price: $258,767
Unemployment rate: 3.9%
Violent crime index: 20
Exeter, near the coast about 45 minutes from Manchester, is famous as the home of Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the most respected prep schools in the nation. The town has more than a dozen restaurants, bookstores, and bike shops. About 29% of residents are married with children. The average commute is 19 minutes.
