It was August of 1926 when 54 Baltimoreans first called the Keswick campus “home.” A century later, Keswick is here to stay, demonstrating its commitment to Baltimore's older adults and families through a major campus transformation. Beginning in 2024, the multi-year $65 million capital project is strengthening Keswick’s service to current and future generations, including residents receiving long-term care, guests who visit for short-stay rehabilitation, and people across Baltimore who join with Keswick to learn, to teach, to gain respite, and to build better tomorrows for ourselves and others, at every age.
Keswick was founded in 1883 in downtown Baltimore, and the Hampden/Roland Park campus at 700 West 40th Street is the third location in its history. There are now 110 Keswick residents benefiting from 24-hour long-term care services as part of a campus community that some family and friends refer to as a second home. For the past two years, the Maryland Nursing Home Family Experience of Care Survey showed that 97-100% of responding family/representatives would recommend Keswick for long-term care.
On any given day, another 40 short-stay guests benefit from nursing care and rehabilitation services, and the Multi-Care Center also offers dialysis for residents and short-stay guests. The Center maintains excellent outcomes, minimizing unnecessary rehospitalizations, and US News & World Report has recognized Keswick’s short- and long-term services as High Performing.
Keswick’s former medical director, who retired in 2012 after 27 years, Dr. IsabelleMacGregor, has passionately shared, “When Keswick was founded at the turn of the last century, it provided care, comfort and dignity for patients when there was no cure…as medicine changed, Keswick changed. When I retired, the care model was changing to recognize the evolving needs and aspirations of an aging population.”
Today, nearly 500 people engage with Keswick’s Wise & Well Center annually, where those ages 50+ engage in personal training, art, and whole-person wellness opportunities for growth, learning, and empowerment while challenging stereotypes of aging. ThroughHome & Healthy and Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS), Keswick’s Navigators offer solid guidance and resources for those who want to act on the desire to stay in the homes they love and prepare for the future.
More than 300 interns and volunteers from area high schools, colleges, and the neighborhoods around Baltimore, support Keswick’s work in improving the experience of aging, together.On the Keswick campus, people of all ages are enjoying and supporting one another, demonstrating the importance of growth and connection, at every age.
The first phase of the transformational capital project led to the 2025 opening of the Cognitive & Caregiver Resource Center, expanding knowledge and approaches to cognitive well-being for all of us and offering support and respite to care partners across the city. Maryland, andBaltimore City specifically, have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the United States, including 16.6% of Baltimoreans age 65+ living with dementia. To increase dementia awareness and build empathy across communities, nearly 50 young people have been trained in the past year along with Keswick team members.
In September of 2026, project completion of the northwest wing will introduce a new chapel, salon, and lobby bistro, and a re-opened library, gift shop, and art walkway. Upper floors are transformed with fully renovated and larger all-private rooms for ten residents per “household.” Future phases create more long-term care neighborhood settings to support relationships and deepen experiences of home for residents, families, and team members. Aligned with Keswick’s vision of greater fulfillment and freedom of aging for all, team trainings in age-friendly care and empowered leadership strengthen and support relationships among residents, families, and team members.
Keswick CEO, Aileen Tinney, shares, “Life’s most important things remain constant across time...purpose, relationships, and connection, having what we need, feeling cared about and well cared for, in a place of comfort. As we approach 100 years on our campus, we hear stories of Keswick’s past and see the present within as threads in the fabric of this very special place.”
Into the future and with final completion scheduled for early 2029, the capital project modernizes 110,000 square feet of major mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, ensuring continued service to Baltimore into the future. The design and construction team includes the architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman; Lewis Contractors, based in Owings Mills; and HDC, Inc., a real estate project management company based in Baltimore. With this reinvestment, Keswick is clear in its commitment to stay right here, working with the community to offer dignified, accessible, and personalized support and services to older people, and those who serve them, in whatever setting they call home.
Beyond its campus, PACE of West Baltimore opened in 2025 and is jointly owned by Keswick and Gilchrist, with a minority ownership by Catholic Charities. The Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) serves those who need nursing home level of care yet, with the support of PACE, are able to remain living in their home and neighborhood. Bringing truly person-centered care and support to the community, the PACE of West Baltimore Center is part of The Village at Mondawmin.
“2026 marks 100 years of Keswick on the Hampden and Roland Park campus. This is an anniversary of a community, and every community should have a Keswick. We are proud that our team is consistently recognized for exceptional care and services, and every day demonstrates their commitment to aging together on campus and in the Baltimore community,” shares Matt Hemelt, the Immediate Past Chair of the Keswick Board.
As a 143-year-old,not-for-profit, community care organization serving the people of Baltimore, Keswick’s mission to improve the experience of aging, together, continues to grow through volunteerism and philanthropy—without which Keswick would not exist. Looking toward the next 100 years, Keswick is demonstrating its continued commitment to that mission, on campus and beyond.
Please consider making a donation in commemoration and celebration of our 100th anniversary on this campus. Click here to donate!
Checks can be made payable to Keswick and mailed to:
Keswick
c/o Barbara Levering
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