(MassLive – Jeanette DeForge) Brenda Bauer and her family all live in the same area so when her brother got sick and needed nursing home care, her relatives agreed to move him from Florida back to Western Massachusetts.
But now Willimansett Center East and West are closing and Bauer and her family are struggling to find a new placement for him. So far, they have been told their options are Pittsfield, the Cape or Boston.
“My brother has been in the facility for four years and it is right down the street from my sister’s house, my house … Now we have to move him to east cupcake,” she said. “I’m elderly and I don’t drive and a couple of family members don’t drive.”
Now Bauer can visit her brother every day or two and her siblings and cousins do the same. If he is moved miles away she said she knows that will change.
“We have been working so hard. It is craziness to find him a place,” she said. “It is terribly stressful. It has affected all of our lives.”
Bauer was just one of more than a half-dozen families who spoke at a state Department of Public Health hearing about the closure of Willimansett Center East and West on Wednesday night. Most said they were told by the state there were plenty of homes to transfer residents to within 10 to 20 miles of the homes on Chicopee Street, only to find out no one is accepting new residents.
Now sons, daughters and siblings are being told their options are Pittsfield or Boston, which most agree is too long and far away.
On Feb. 6. Northeast Health Group announced it would close the four homes it operates including Governor’s Center, in Westfield, and Chapin Center, in Springfield. The non-profit company said it could no longer survive financially due to a new Department of Public Health regulation that calls for all nursing homes to reduce bedrooms to two or fewer residents.
A similar public hearing will be held at virtually at 6 p.m., Thursday, for the Westfield and Springfield centers. People can call 888-390-5007 and then type in passcode 3522632.
“Northeast Health Group did not enter into this decision lightly, said Heather Berchem, a lawyer representing the company.
The company’s applications for waivers to give it relief from the new regulation were denied. The number of residents was reduced and, despite a small increase in Medicare reimbursement, it lost $6.4 million over a one-year period, she said.
The closures mean about 300 residents must find new placements and about 360 people will lose their jobs.
They are people like Dale Little who said her mother, who is currently recovering from pneumonia brought on by COVID, is now just seven minutes away. When she was rushed to Baystate Medical Center, it wasn’t a problem for Little to get to the hospital immediately.
“I don’t know what I would do if my mom was in Boston or Pittsfield,” she said. “Did they think of the families? I’ve been looking all over for a nursing home that is close by and I haven’t been lucky.”
Many of the Western Massachusetts legislators, who have been working together to find a compromise or solution to the dedensification regulation, also attended the hearing to advocate for patients and their families.
They talked about regional inequities in the health care system, especially in Hampden County which has one of the highest poverty rates statewide. They also said it is unfair to even consider having families choose between Pittsfield and Boston as an option.
State Rep. Michael Finn, D-West Springfield, said lawmakers have learned there are empty nursing home beds in Hampden County but those facilities cannot accept new residents because they can’t find enough nursing staff.
He said some facilities, especially those in the eastern part of the state, are receiving help from the Department of Public Health so they are fully-staffed, but those in Hampden County are not.
“We want to know why some institutions are being protected while others are being left behind,” he said.
Finn added the two Willimansett Centers each have top five-star ratings and also serve a number of low-income residents.
State Sen. John C. Velis said the lack of nursing home beds will have an even bigger impact on local hospitals, which already have to keep patients for longer because they cannot find placements for people who need short-term rehabilitation and long-term care.
The backlog, which averages about 100 people now, means patients in the emergency department have to wait longer to be admitted because there are no beds available.
“It is eventually going to create a health care crisis throughout the state as it is starting to do in Western Massachusetts,” Velis said.
“It is important to remember is the people it is going to impact the most, the residents and their families and the staff, had nothing to do with this decision, he said.