ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Community members gathered at Lifespan to discuss why nursing home care has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tonight we heard from Ann Marie Cook from Lifespan, Ryan Gilmartin from St. John’s Senior Living & Care, Greg Hutton from University of Rochester’s Home Care, as well as Rob Kleinberg, of Rochester Regional Long-Term Care.
Concerns were raised about Medicaid coverage for nursing homes and the costs involved, as well as how residents ended up at Waterview Heights and why other facilities did not accept them. Marydel Wypych of the Elder Justice Committee called for more openness about where residents have gone.
“And that’s a real problem. Why won’t the state tell us—allow us to know where these people have gone. I think we need to have transparency and accountability and we need to do something so we don’t have the next Waterview Heights starting to bubble up,” Wypych said.
How did we get here?
Deanna Dewberry has been investigating Waterview Heights for years now. And in August, the State Department of Health decided to step in and order it to close because inspectors found conditions were so bad that they put residents at risk.
The state’s original deadline to close the facility was Sept. 24, but that deadline has been extended multiple times because not all residents had found a new place to stay. In August, the facility had more than 160 residents who needed a new place.
Lilac Manor on North Goodman Street has taken in nearly a third of the residents from Waterview Heights. Only nine nursing homes in Monroe County agreed to accept Waterview residents, sparing many from being moved far away.
Another attendee said that “the lack of larger agencies coming forward and saying this is a crisis. We feel for you, we will take one or two.”
“I just can’t believe that Lilac Manor is the next Waterview. And you just dumped a ton of people on them,” the attendee, who’s name we didn’t get, said.
Lilac Manor, a one-star facility in Rochester, was also discussed. The roundtable focused on nursing home care, including concerns about quality, staff pay, and staffing shortages. Ann Marie Cook reflected on how the conversation has changed over the years.
“I remember 20 years ago sitting in this room how do we get more quality of care. How do we have people thrive—what are the measures. We’re not talking about that anymore. We’re talking about how do people get fed? How long is it going to be before a call gets answered?” Cook said.
Early Thursday morning, a source told News10NBC, the remaining five residents from Waterview Heights were set to be discharged by 2 p.m. Thursday.
READ MORE: Five remaining Waterview Heights residents set to be discharged
But Lifespan said that didn’t happen, instead, the five remaining residents from Waterview Heights are scheduled to move to Lilac Manor on Friday.
The discussion highlighted ongoing challenges in local nursing home care.
The post Addressing the nursing home care crisis; following the Waterview Heights situation appeared first on WHEC.com.
