Riverwood Healthcare Center and the Developmental Achievement Center (DAC) of Aitkin County closed on the sale of the log building property at 601 Bunker Hill Drive in Aitkin on April 18.
Pictured from left are Riverwood board members Lowell Larson, Heather Hipp, Tom Lundberg, Kathleen Ryan, Riverwood CEO Ken Westman, DAC Executive Director Tammy Jo Johnson, and DAC board members Peggy Jones, Val Thompson, and Laurie Westerlund.
In 2008, Riverwood began renting the log building from Aitkin County Growth (now Growth Innovations) to house a sleep center and several outpatient services. In 2017, Riverwood purchased the building to use primarily for its behavioral health clinic, which relocated to the former surgery department space in the hospital in February 2025.
Riverwood CEO Ken Westman comments on the sale, “Riverwood is pleased to sell this property to a nonprofit organization like the DAC, which provides valued services to those with disabilities in our local community. We look forward to welcoming the DAC as our new neighbor on Bunker Hill Drive.”
DAC Executive Director Tammy Jo Johnson adds, “On behalf of the DAC leadership team and the people we support, we are thrilled to have been able to partner with Riverwood Healthcare Center in the purchase of the 601 Bunker Hill Drive building. This beautiful property will continue to support community members, providing ample space for DAC to grow and provide services to more individuals with disabilities. The generosity of the Riverwood board and administrative team is so very much appreciated.”
The DAC current spaces are at capacity so the new larger building opens up opportunities for growth, including the expansion of a Life Enrichment program that provides higher need cares and supports for those with disabilities. The new space will allow the creation of an employment office that focuses on individual community placement and offer increased capacity for inhouse project development. The DAC is also planning for the addition of outdoor patio garden areas and a dining and recreational space.
The DAC is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) business that has been providing work, leisure, home, and volunteer opportunities to individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities since 1964. The DAC works closely with health and human services departments in several counties throughout the local region. Currently, the DAC supports more than 80 individuals in community business for both independent and group employment, homemaking and life skills training, work, and leisure activities at site-based locations. It also owns and operates DACMART, a community business that operates a thrift store in Aitkin.