A Kansas Department on Aging official said Wednesday morning that an ombudsman will be in Emporia today to begin work to help residents that will be displaced because of the closing of the Emporia Rehabilitation Center, 221 W. Logan Ave.
“I called this morning and verified with the license administrator in that facility, and they are indeed closing. At that time, they were contacting KDOA,” said Gilbert Cruz, state long-term care ombudsman. “We’re already dispatching somebody tomorrow afternoon” to Emporia Rehab.
A call to National Health Investors Inc., in Murfreesboro, Tenn., to confirm the information has not yet been returned. NHI is listed as owner of Emporia Rehab on documents filed with the Kansas Department on Aging, Cruz said. The date of the planned closing was not available, nor was the reason for the closing.
Administrator Melinda Arb could not comment on the possible closing Tuesday afternoon, and said questions would need to be directed to another office, which did not return phone calls.
Word that Emporia Rehabilitation Center would close was spread on Tuesday morning, when at least some employees apparently were told of the plans.
Greg Reser, acting commissioner of KDOA’s licensure certification and evaluation commission, said Tuesday afternoon that long-term care homes must notify the department of the intention to close and the planned closing date. Then, the care homes’ managers must go through certain procedures before the facilities can be closed.
“We send them a letter back that somewhat details the kinds of things they need to do,” Reser said.
Thirty-day’s notice must be given to all of the residents and their families.
“(A)nd they do need to assist the residents relocate, find other places,” he said. “They should be working with long-term care home ombudsmen’s offices.”
Having an ombudsman advocate for the residents is a service provided at no charge, Cruz said. Services are financed through taxes.
“So we don’t really have a dog in the fight,” Cruz said. “We don’t have any other angle than what the resident wants us to do for them. ... We’re the advocate for the residents; we’re not the advocate for the facility or the state.”
Cruz said that an ombudsman was to be dispatched today to Emporia Rehab.
The ombudsman will meet with each resident to determine what needs to be done to help. If the resident is unable to meet with the ombudsman, he or she will meet with family members or a person who holds durable power of attorney for the resident.
“We want to know what the resident is feeling and what their wishes are,” Cruz said.
Later, the ombudsman will work with staff of the facility, as well as the resident’s doctor and, if needed, with staff in the receiving facility.
“Based on their care assessment, we would prepare a list that would give them an option of what the next available facilities that have that,” Cruz said.
An Alzheimer’s unit, for example, must meet special regulations for that service, so such units are not available at every care home.
“In those cases there might be some relocation that might be necessary,” Cruz said.
The ombudsman also will provide printed information about other options residents and their families or DPOAs may want to consider, such as home health or assisted living.
“So they have a fresh look at what their options are, and then they can choose from there,” he said.
Cruz said that people who have questions or need services of an ombudsman may call toll-free at 877-662-8362 or visit the Web site at www.kansasombudsmen.ks.gov.
Emporia Rehab has 69 beds certified for Medicare and/or Medicaid patients and a capacity of 79 beds.
Emporia Rehab is listed as a “Special Focus Facility” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services division of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Special Focus Facilities are nursing homes that have a history of persistent poor quality of care,” the CMS Web stated. “These nursing homes have been selected for more frequent inspections and monitoring.”
In a government report on nursing homes released today, Emporia Rehab received an overall rating of two out of a possible five stars.
In individual category ratings, the care center received one of a possible five stars for health inspections, four of five stars for nursing-home staffing, and three of five stars for quality measures.
The stars indicate:
• Five stars — much above average
• Four stars — above average
• Three stars — average
• Two stars — below average
• One star — much below average
The rating information is available at www.medicare.gov.
Comments
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Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
goodbye
Posted by shift (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess there will be another building for another Pay Day loan to open up.
Posted by Free4all (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This one will sit vacant for years, become over grown in weeds, an eye sore for sure. Nothing new when you look around town at all the other buildings that sit empty and the city puts a blind eye to it and wonders why other businesses wont use available property.
Posted by create (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Those ratings are very sad, shameful even. My question is how a facility even gets that way in view of state standards that are supposedly in place. Who inspects and how often? Why not more often? It sounds like this place should have been shut down long ago. Notice that their parent company is in Tennessee. How much do you suppose those people care about this?
I'm not too impressed with Cruz. Where has he been all this time?
But let's at least hope that the patients will be placed at facilities that have higher ratings and will be taken better care of. But the population is getting older; we can almost be assured that this is going to be a common occurence as the baby boomers age and companies like the one in Tennessee are there to take their money and provide next to nothing in return.
Does the local health department have anything to do with inspections? Just asking.
Posted by LifeGoesOn (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 4:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Free4all is correct, it will sit vacant, become overgrown and an eyesore. For one reason only, it's on the south side of town
, If this were in country club heights, it would be a whole different story. JMO
Posted by annonymous222 (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 4:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
once again the emporia gazette doesn't have thier facts right.
the facility has a poor rating due to statistics prior to 2007
administration. the two department heads have made a great
change in the facility and the type of care the residents have
had in the past. Ask a resident for your self or one of their
family members. If this was a poor facility then why didn't the state or feds close the facility down. for those of you who don't know it is hard pleasing the government and nothing gets by them. the special focus came only from a few bed
sores that some residents developed prior to 2007. nursing homes and hospital patients are always aquireing bed sores and some are unavoidable, due to poor nutrition or terminal illness but not lack of care. on the other hand could this facility be closing due to the lack of money management on the owners part?
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It was the worst nursing home in town and coincidetally the first to go. When we needed to put Grandpa in rehab at a Nursing home and they told us it was the only one in town with beds I was adamant that he needed to go out of town if necessary. No family member of mine would ever be put in there.
Posted by hartford (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
annonymous222:
I am sure they were shut down for more than what you call "a few bedsores" Do you know how bed sores happen? They happen because the patients are not being turned like they should have been. I do not blame anything "this time" on the Gazette not getting their facts straight. The rehab center may have turned around recently as you have mentioned, but it must not have been soon enough for the state. When it comes to our older loved ones, why not have high standards for the elderly? The government standards should be high! I am not sure where you are coming from when you say what you do. I am sure you would feel differant if you were in the rehab or had a loved one in there.
In the past 5 years, the rehab has basically become a place where patients who were having a hard time finding any other place to live came. It was turning into a psych ward. Basically, the rehab center needed beds filled for monetary purposes. They were not correctly staffed to take care of most of the patients they had.
And by the way, it takes more than just a one time 2 star rating to close down a care home. You should look deeper into it.
I hope all find a place to live.
Posted by donkrom (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 7:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yes i hope that the people working there do find work at a facility that does care about the residents, this facility does not, at least that was my perception while i worked ther for a year. they had no credit in emporia for repairs, the company that owns them used the monies from residents to improve other facilities under their jurusdiction, yes there were alot of complaints about the place to the fire inpsector in topeka, and srs but everything was always covered up or people fired as an excuse
Posted by cookatwork (anonymous) on December 18, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The facility was NOT closed due to poor performance - the owner of the business made this decision due to financial futures. The local hospital and older nursing homes have had low number for a while now and this hurts the bottom line. All nursing homes have their problems. Not ALL bedsores are preventable. The new administrator and new director of nursing have made AMAZING changes in the facility and should be commended. Nursing home survey information found online are generally 6 months to a year outdated - the ONLY way to KNOW a facility is to visit.
It really bothers me that people have focused on the WRONG area here - HELLO PEOPLE... some of these residents have lived there 20 years... and what about the staff - my word people staff members have lost their jobs right before Christmas.
Posted by b3bill (anonymous) on December 19, 2008 at 12:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Regardless of the gov't inspections and ratings available, family/friends of the residents in a care home should be conducting their own close monitoring of the establishment and report any problem immediately. The establishment must be held accountable to fix the problem ASAP, they take the money for the 24/7 care of the resident. It makes no difference where the owner(s) is located, he/she/they are responsible to each resident just the same. The watching of the establishment should be ongoing and cannot be done with only a few visits per year. Put yourself in the residents' place, wouldn't you want some family/friends on the lookout for you more than a couple times a year? Hopefully you'll find everything ok. If not, appropriate action needs to be taken immediately. Your action may help many other residents too.
Unfortunately, all too many of the residents have very few family/friends stopping by to see them, even for just 10 or 15 minutes. Lots of times there are several family/friends living within city limits, but seldom stop by. Everyone has choices to make of how to spend their time. However, do not think that your family/friends in care homes are always in safe and acceptable living conditions just because there is some gov't rating system. You need to be there to see for yourself and look out for them as much as you can.
I was at Emporia Rehab this summer on a tour for possible placement of a family member, so I got to see several rooms and other locations throughout. I thought the place looked very run down and in dire need of much attention in so many ways. I found the staff to be quite friendly and compassionate, and I know they were not responsible for the attention the place needed. I blame the owners. I'm sorry for the staff losing their jobs, and hope they find other employment soon.
Posted by erc (anonymous) on December 19, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We at Emporia Rehab Center would like the chance to dis-spell any rumors at this point related our closing. First, we were not closed by the state, the fact of the matter is the doors are being closed by choice of the owner of ERC. As a nurse I have always felt that when businessmen get involved in long term care and their main goal is to turn a profit, the end result is never good. We have read multiple blogs speaking of the caliber of care given at ERC and that being the reason we are closing. This could not be further from the truth. Wether you choose to believe that or not is up to you. What I can tell you is that once the news broke, the staff of ERC stood beside each other and our patients. It would have been very easy for all of us to scatter and only think of ourselves. Many of us may not be able to afford christmas this year due to the loss of our jobs and not knowing where our next paycheck will come from. But we have pulled together as a team, as a family, and vowed to take care of these patients until the last resident has found placement. I believe that the staff at ERC has demonstrated great pride and integrity through every step. To you na-sayers, stop for a moment and imagine yourself in our shoes. Instead of standing in line at your christmas parties you could be standing in line next to us in the bread lines. Many of us have worked in all the nursing homes in town and feel that the care we provided there is no different from the care we provided at ERC. It is a matter of professional standards and a code of conduct we uphold as professionals. It is difficult to remove a black cloud or displace half-truth once they have been placed upon a facility. In such a desperate time of need, we have great sorrow for those of you who have choosen to be so negative in this situation instead of searching for something positive. This is a time for a community to pull together and support one another, not stand alone. A simple prayer for the patients and employees would be greatly appreciated instead of the attacks. When a patient tells you she would rather die than have to leave her home at ERC, then we know we have done our jobs and nothing else matters. We would like to thank the friends and families of ERC for all your understanding, compasion, support and kind words at this time. Thank you to the surrounding facilities and communities who have accepted our residents. May they become part of your family now, they will all be missed greatly. For all the narrowminded individuals who don't know or who don't care to seek the truth, before you write such slanderous things, we would like to wish you all happy holidays with your families and may God bless each one of you in the new year to come.
Posted by coldhandswarmheart (anonymous) on December 19, 2008 at 8:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have gotten the privilege to work as a nurse at Emporia Rehab Center over the last 2 1/2 years. While there, I came to know and love each resident and co-worker. I consider it my second home. I was completely devastated when I was told Tuesday of the news of the facility closing. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. 60 employees and 36 residents were feeling the same way. Then I heard of the horrible things people had been saying about ERC. After Tyson and other businesses closing recently, I assumed our small town of Emporia would be somewhat concerned, sympathetic, and understanding of our loss. Unfortunately, I found out otherwise. I wonder if the people who wrote those harsh words even considered the residents who are losing their home. They probably don't care. One resident pulled me aside crying yesterday, "I don't even know what to do. I have lived here for more than 7 years now. My husband died here. I never thought at my age I would have to find a new home." I, on the other hand, do care. I am going to continue to be compassionate and work hard every last minute that ERC is open. I wish every employee the best of luck and have enjoyed your company. I would like to thank all of the residents and their family for their continued support, kind words, and gifts. I hope you all will find a new home to accommodate you and/or your loved ones needs and wishes. I would also like to thank Osage City and Pittsburg who went out of their way to buy us lunch yesterday. It's amazing how we can be disrespected by our own community and acknowledged by people we don't even know.
Posted by A_Nurse (anonymous) on December 20, 2008 at 2:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We as a community should be devistated by the loss of Emporia Rehab. Ask any resident, any family member, any staff member where they would want a loved one. The answer is always the same, ERC. I was proud to be a staff nurse there and work with a team of competent and considerate staff who always had the residents well being in mind. Yes, it wasnt always the prettiest, but a wise man once told me "Pretty walls dont take care of people." If you want to know the truth about what the state survey said, look it up on the CMS website, ERC has nothing to hide. The staff should be proud: They took a facility with multiple care issues and turned it into a facility with very few care issues.
I think the city of Emporia has gotten thier morals and values COMPLETELY SCREWED UP. We should be morning the loss of our residents homes and the loss of thier friends and loved ones that have cared for them for years. Not bashing a facility based off half truthes and full fledged lies.
Beware of half truths, you may be hanging on to the wrong half...
Posted by localgirl (anonymous) on December 20, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
In doing a little research found out some info at a web site that I encourge everyone to look at. medcare.gov on this site u are able to compare all the nursing homes to each other in town. whencompared to holiday and presb manor little ERC held there own and even beat these two in mult areas!
Posted by TulsaNative (anonymous) on December 21, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.
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Posted by bopeep101 (anonymous) on December 25, 2008 at 1:52 a.m.
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Posted by bopeep101 (anonymous) on December 25, 2008 at 1:53 a.m.
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