The Associated Press

CLINTON - A nursing home once tainted by scandal is being converted into a multipurpose health center in this small town in far western Kentucky.

Family-owned Arbor Group of Sikeston, Mo., bought the property, formerly Birchtree Healthcare, in May for $2.3 million. Birchtree was owned by Tina Conner, the one-time mistress to former Gov. Paul Patton.

Birchtree closed in December 2002 after Conner filed bankruptcy. Scores of people lost jobs and elderly residents were moved elsewhere.

Arbor reopened the nursing home as Arbor Place.

Now it's spending $1 million renovating the 50,000-square-foot building into a multipurpose health center scheduled to open in October and employ about 100.

"I've never seen a little community open up to a facility like they have Arbor," said David Minton, administrator/regional manager. "It's exciting and there's a lot of optimism."

Arbor has shrunk the nursing home section to 98 beds and is turning freed space into a doctor's office, an outpatient rehabilitation section, a unit for patients in transition from hospital to home, and an exercise and fitness center.

"There's really nothing like it in that rural area where people from the community can go for programs like those in Paducah and larger cities," said Arbor Group President John Sells.

Arbor Place now has about 38 residents and 40 employees.

Dr. Bruce Smith, who practiced in Clinton for 16 years until 2000, returned in July after sharing an office for 18 months with Dr. Richard White, the mayor of Hickman. Arbor remodeled a wing of the building into a business office, waiting room, three exam rooms and office for Smith.

Sells said the 18-bed transitional unit and rehab center are needed by the aging community. About a quarter of Hickman County's 5,165 residents are at least 65 years old, and demographic studies show plenty of residents within a 20-mile radius to support the wellness center, Sells said.

County Judge-executive Greg Pruitt said the potential for 100 jobs is a big boost for Hickman County, where the unemployment rate of nearly 9 percent is among the state's highest.

"Arbor's growth and Dr. Smith's coming back are positive for this community," Pruitt said. "Those are small steps to create jobs and stimulate the economy to keep more people here."

Aside from the temporary closure of Birchtree, Clinton is still trying to recover from 300 jobs lost since 2001 with the closings of two main industrial employers, the Jakel small-appliance motor plant and the Garan garment factory.

A new trucking firm, Blue Carriers, has opened south of Clinton.