A long-term care facility in Coupeville that was owned by the same company for decades has now changed owners.

Careage of Whidbey will now be known as Regency Coupeville as of Oct. 1. Cole de Klerk, an administrator for Regency Coupeville, said he understood that the previous owners were retiring.

Regency Pacific manages Regency of Whidbey, an assisted living facility in Oak Harbor, and 13 other skilled nursing facilities in Washington, in addition to the Coupeville facility. The company also owns facilities in Oregon, Idaho, California and Hawaii.

De Klerk said the building will go through an extensive remodeling in the future. Updates will include a new roof, new paint, new carpet and increased parking, among others upgrades. The new owners also want to decrease the number of people living in the building from its licensed capacity of 112 beds down to fewer than 100.

The upcoming change will allow for more private rooms, according to Tod Dunfield, regional vice president for Regency Pacific. The facility will keep its full capacity available in case there should be a sudden influx of residents, he added, but it won’t be adding any more beds.

“I think private rooms are much more agreeable to residents,” Dunfield said.

The Coupeville skilled nursing home is not currently open to visitors except under certain circumstances because of the threat of COVID-19. An outbreak at the then-Careage of Whidbey infected 46 people earlier this year, according to Island County’s March epidemiological report. Two people later died from the virus, according to Island County Public Health.

There have been 259 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Whidbey Island and 10 deaths, according to county data as of Oct. 7.