Robison Jewish Home for the Aged

Cedar Sinai Park’s roots are firmly planted within the Portland Jewish Community. In 1920, the need arose for housing for the elderly, and the community responded by furnishing a 16-room Victorian home in the heart of the primarily Jewish neighborhood in Old South Portland. Originally named the Jewish Old People’s Home, it served seniors at that location until the 1950s. In 1954, the Board of Trustees purchased and broke ground on seven acres of farmland in southwest Portland, where suburban neighborhoods were beginning to crop up.

15 residents moved into the new Robison Jewish Home for the Aged in 1955, which was renamed in honor of Hannah Robison’s legacy and her sons’ generous donation towards the project. Hannah is fondly remembered as a pillar of the Old South Portland neighborhood and her family’s gift left a solid foundation for the Jewish community to build upon.

The Robison Home was the first Jewish organization to expand into southwest Portland outer area, followed in the coming decades by multiple synagogues and the Jewish Community Center.

Robison Center for Health

Construction in the 1960s and 1970s to the Robison Home included infirmary wings, residential care and a secure memory care area. Word of the excellent level of care spread beyond the Jewish community and the Robison Home became the choice for rehabilitation while continuing to expand its services to meet the changing needs in long term care.

Rose Schnitzer Manor for Assisted Living

The May Apartments, built in the early 1980s on the south side of campus, offered retirees an independent living environment. The late 1990s saw the completion of the Rose Schnitzer Manor for assisted living. In 2016 and 2017, the Robison building underwent a massive renovation project, transforming the old wings into a state-of-the-art, post-acute rehabilitation facility with 44 private suites to serve the community’s growing need for high-quality, short-term care and rehabilitation that enables a quick return home and to everyday life.

Harold Schnitzer Center for Living

In 2016 Cedar Sinai Park again made its mark in long term care by opening the Harold Schnitzer Center for Living (HSCL). Four small group households – twelve residents each – comprise the newly built HSCL, providing a warm, welcoming home complete with private bedrooms and bathrooms, fully furnished living and dining rooms and a warm central kitchen at its heart.

To round out the continuum of care, additional options include respite adult day services, in-home caregiving, housing for adults with disabilities, and downtown affordable housing. The entire organization bears the name Cedar Sinai Park, but ask most Portlanders, and they’ll still affectionately refer to it simply as The Home, a cherished part of the community.