History of Mount Carmel Home

Mount Carmel Home has been owned and operated by the Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters since 1929.  They are a small group of Nuns engaged in all types of social, religious, educational and mission work in the United States, England, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Mount Carmel Home started when Francis G. Keens, a pioneer Kearney businessman, came to Kearney for his annual inspection of his property, “The Keens Flats”.  He quickly sensed that families were moving to the north side of town to live in detached residences. He began to consider changing the flats to a small modern hospital operated by sisters.  He met with the parish priest and the idea of a home for the aged came about.

The original building located on 17th Street served the aged of this area from 1929 to 1965. As the number of residents and Sisters increased, it became necessary to build. An addition called St. Teresa’s wing was built which included a chaplain’s quarters and a new chapel. Generous benefactors made it possible to build a 54 bed wing which was completed by 1965.

The Sisters remained as Department Heads until such time as they were called to serve in other vital ministries thus additional staff was needed.

Building once more became a necessity so in 1979, St. Joseph’s Wing was built to provide additional space. The original building is now being used exclusively by Sisters.

In May of 2006 construction was completed for the Day Care Center attached and it was named Little Shepherd Kidz Place.  This new addition solidified Mount Carmel’s dedication to improving the lives of the residents, staff and their families.

Mount Carmel Home - Keens Memorial is now a 75 bed Skilled Nursing Facility licensed by the State of Nebraska which employs over 100 people.  As a licensed facility, it is required to observe all Federal and State regulations that pertain to all nursing facilities.

The Home was operated and administrated by the Sisters until December of 1991.  They still own the Home, serve as the Board of Directors, and remain active in Administration and supplementary activities there.  We remain committed to providing the highest quality of care and preserving the dignity of life in a Catholic, Christian and homelike atmosphere to those we serve.