Your Life. Your Choice.

Canterfield of Ocala encourages and enables active lifestyles, along with the freedom to live life your way—all in a luxurious, home-like environment.

Philosophy

Canterfield of Ocala is taking a new approach to the independent and assisted living community. In Executive Director Jim Mikula’s mind, it’s all about providing the assistance you need in order to live your desired lifestyle.

People are reluctant to go into senior living communities because they are afraid of losing their independence and having to live in an institutional environment. But that is not true at Canterfield.

Mikula has a background in advancing care for with people with head injuries. When he eventually moved into management and senior care, he knew the assisted living industry had to change.

“The focus should be on what people can do, not what they can’t do. There should be activities to keep people active and not just busy,” he says. “People want to be valuable. The worst thing we can do is make people feel worthless.”

And that’s what Canterfield of Ocala is all about. It is a familyowned community that provides the greatest degree of independence to its residents.

Stimulating activities go beyond Bingo—with trips to see plays, eat at new restaurants and even go on boat rides in the plans. Mikula says it’s the kind of community he wants to go to when he’s tired of keeping up a home.

People who come to Canterfield are coming to a home where they don’t have to worry about maintenance, cooking or cleaning. Everything is taken care of, leaving residents free to live as they choose.

“We take away the hassles of life,” Mikula says. “We want to make this your home.”

When a resident needs it, the nursing staff at Canterfield can provide assistance. The nursing staff is well-trained and able to take care of most medical needs, but if residents need further rehabilitation, Canterfield’s sister community, TimberRidge Nursing

& Rehabilitation Center, will take care of them until they are able to return home to Canterfield.

That’s a great example of what Canterfield calls its “aging in place” commitment. Residents aren’t moved from one building to another based on medical need. Instead, if a resident moves in as a completely independent individual and then needs a bit of assistance later, the medical care comes to the resident, instead of the resident having to move to the care. The beauty of this way of living is that residents have their own home, the same friends and the same caregivers.

“Our job is to provide medical assistance to enable you, and not focus on your disabilities,” Mikula says. “We are focused on keeping people active and aging in place.”

Amenities

Canterfield’s commitment to freedom of choice is also reflected in the food. The community’s talented chef has an impressive résumé and will be able to cater to specific dietary needs, as well as provide everything from home-style to fine-dining options. Essentially, the food won’t just taste delicious; it will look delicious and be readily available, too.

“We’ll make food a wonderful experience,” Mikula says. “You get up when you want and eat when you want,” he says. “Our menu will have a dozen anytime items. You can have breakfast at dinner if you want. Why not?”

The new, three-story Canterfield building is designed to look and feel like home. At the front of the building, there’s a sitting room area that looks just like a living room. The windows overlook the parking lot and front drive, so residents can relax while waiting for visitors or transportation.

On the ground floor, there is also a memory care unit for residents with dementia. The unit has room for 22 people, and residents share meals together and have the same caregivers, who are well-trained in caring for people with any type of dementia. Memory care residents enjoy their own home-like environment with the same luxuries as the residents in the main part of the building.

Canterfield has 91 apartments and six villas to keep the number of residents to around 100 to 105 people. Mikula says this is the sweet spot they’ve found between being economical but not so big that residents lose individuality. All of the apartments have kitchenettes, walk-in closets, several windows, granite countertops, spacious bathrooms and ample living space. There are six different studio layouts and three different one-room layouts to choose from.

Canterfield feels like a high-end apartment building and, besides the beautiful building, everything is right there. The first floor has a large dining area with a private dining room for family get-togethers or parties, weekly housekeeping and laundry are provided for you and there’s a beauty salon, a multi-purpose room with a theatre screen, an exercise room, an arts and crafts activities room, a library and Wi-Fi available throughout the entire building.

“We create the best possible care,” Mikula says. “We’re driven to make a difference.”