It all began in 1968 as Ganton Nursing Home with 59 beds and had approximately 50 employees. Merv Ganton, the brother of John Ganton Sr., was the owner and administrator of this nursing facility.
In 1981, Merv and Mary Ganton sold Ganton Nursing Home to John Ganton Sr. At the time of this exchange, the facility was renamed Countryside Care Center. Further development of Countryside began in 1984 when the Care Center was expanded to be able to house 115 residents. Immediately following construction began on the Countryside Court apartments; our semi-independent living option. They were completed in 1986 and were an immediate success! All 44 apartments were filled within one year.
Retirement community living was gaining popularity among Mid-Michigan residents, and 1987 turned out to be prime time to begin construction on the first eight Villas; a new independent living option. These condominium-style apartments have been continuously added to little by little now totaling at 68 Villas in all!
In the Mid-1990’s John Sr. recognized a need for apartment style living for those that did not need care but rather daily assistance. Trusting his instincts, an assisted-living building called the Countryside Manor was constructed in 1996. Because of the Manor’s great success and long waiting list, the Countryside Grand was added just 2 ½ years later.
With the dawn of a new century, John Sr. brought a new concept to the retirement community by adding condominium homes for purchase in 2002. Terrace Hills offers the over 50 crowd a chance to own a home as part of our campus, and have the advantage of priority placement should they ever need Countryside’s care services in the future.
In 2003 the Countryside Atrium apartments were constructed, a new semi-independent living option designed in the likeness of the Court apartments on the East side of Robinson road. In addition, John Sr. decided the time had come to construct six office suites, the first step toward bringing more on-site services and businesses close to residents that call Countryside home, including Johnny O’s Fitness Center in 2005 and Ganton Home Care in 2007.
Today, John Ganton’s Countryside, A Planned Adult Community has over 400 residents and almost 280 employees who all make it a great place to live. The future looks even more exciting as we plan more housing, more recreation opportunities, more on-site medical facilities and more neighborhood shopping. We believe just as the saying goes, “The best is yet to come!”