POULSBO — Emeritus Corporation, which owns and operates Emeritus at Montclair Park, the independent- and assisted-living apartments at 1250 NE Lincoln Road, will merge this year with Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.

Kami Freke, Montclair Park’s community relations director, said the merger must still get regulatory and shareholder approval. She said Emeritus will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookdale, but that the site name will change from Emeritus to Brookdale.

Emeritus shareholders will receive Brookdale stock in return for their shares of Emeritus stock.

Montclair Park has 85 independent- and assisted-living apartments, and 24 memory care apartments. It opened in 2002 and was acquired by Emeritus in 2010.

Emeritus operates 483 senior housing “communities” in 45 states. Company revenues were $1.57 billion in 2012, according to an online bio.

Brookdale owns more than 600 senior housing communities across the U.S. The Emeritus merger will bring that number to nearly 1,100 in 46 states, Freke said.

With the merger, Emeritus also taps into a larger pool of services. Emeritus currently offers independent living, assisted living and memory care, and Montclair Park contracts for physical therapy and hospice care.

Brookdale offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, physical therapy, short-term rehab, long-term care, and private in-home care.

Freke said it isn’t known which services could be added at Montclair Park. But she said the merger connects current Emeritus residents to “very comprehensive programming for seniors.”

In a March 19 letter to residents and family members, Montclair Park executive director Lee Sandstede wrote that, pending shareholder and regulatory approval, the companies expect the merger to be completed in the third quarter of this year.”

“We expect that our residents will not be impacted directly by this change,” Sandstede wrote. “You will continue to be assisted by the same staff you have come to know and continue to enjoy all the amenities of your community. There are no anticipated changes to the community’s policy regarding the acceptance of Medicaid eligible residents.”