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Posted 05.13.08 Crestwood Part 2: Nursing home gives elderly more time before it closes Daily Record -- March 2007 By Vidya Padmanabhan Originally published in the Daily Record, March 22, 2007 HANOVER -- Seniors at Crestwood nursing home who were informed two weeks ago that the facility was scheduled to close in 30 days should have been given at least 60 days'notice, a State Department of Health spokeswoman said. Care One, the company that bought Crestwood and is planning to close the facility for long-term renovations, mailed letters to residents' families on Tuesday amending its previous announcement and extending the notice period, said Tim Hodges, Care One's vice president of operations. Meanwhile, Care One has helped place 16 residents at other facilities, "mostly on family preference," Hodges said. Approximately another 15 residents are awaiting placement in the next week or two, he said. Recent law change A state law amendment that became effective on Oct. 31 increased the mandatory notice period for the closure of nursing homes from 30 days to 60 days, said Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. Care One originally had filed for closure with 30 days'notice, but, upon being informed of the current law, the company amended its notice, she said. The first announcement letters that went out to residents'relatives last week set a target date of April 8 for them to search for a new home for their loved ones. The letters sent out on Tuesday give them a new date, May 8, Hodges said. "We're not calling it a deadline," Hodges said. "We've stressed once again that we will stay open as long as they need." Families and friends of residents who were contacted on Wednesday had not yet heard of the extension, and were either scheduling moves or trying to find placement. The initial anxiety had abated somewhat, said Fran Veit, 64, who is the caretaker for her friend, Patricia Seery, 90, a Crestwood resident. But the worry continued because "I'm making a decision for someone else," she said. Veit is waiting for word on whether Seery will find a spot at the Care One Facility in Morristown. Seery has been at Crestwood for nearly four years, Veit said, and she had experienced excellent care. "She's bedridden almost the entire time -- no bedsores, no pneumonia," Veit said. Veit is not pursuing any other options, she said, since the Morristown Care One is conveniently located. "I'm really not sure what I'll do if this doesn't come through," she said. "I'll just sit on the porch and see if they can knock it down with me on the porch." Success story Most of the anxiety is over for Mary Ann Olivieri and her family. Her mother, Pauline Olivieri, 94, a Crestwood resident, was accepted at King James Care Center in Chatham. The move was scheduled for this morning. Mary Ann Oliveri, along with her sister and cousin, was planning to make the move in a car, rather than an ambulance, so as not to alarm her mother, who has dementia, she said. Pauline Olivieri had lived at Garden Terrace Nursing Home in Chatham previously, but when she had to go on Medicaid, she moved to Crestwood, where she has lived for some years, Mary Ann Oliveri said. "The shame of it is it's been really lovely," she said. The family had been fortunate to find the opening at King James, especially since the facility had just one Medicaid bed available, she said. "We had moved into action immediately (after they received notice)," she said. Others she knew at Crestwood still were waiting to be placed because Care One had assured them that they would help. "Now the beds are all taken,"she said. "They are all on waiting lists. And some of them have no families." |
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