Nursing home crisis sparks outrage

April 30, 2019 12:18 am

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) –Hundreds of elderly residents are being forced from their homes as five nursing homes face closure.

Employees at the Bedford Village nursing home blame it on the owner, but also on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

“It’s chaos,” said Bedford Village Nursing Supervisor Grace Williamson. “And this is barbaric what DPH is allowing to happen.”

Employees say they genuinely care about the residents here.

“Residents are crying,” Williamson said. “They are upset because they’re telling us they thought they were going to die here with us…we have formed a bond with these people. They are our family.”

Williamson says the state knew about the warning signs years ago, and now hasn’t even given them a closure plan.

“These people are human beings with real lives,” Williamson said. “And I hope to God no DPH representative is ever in a facility that this happens to.”

Residents in some facilities were told they have eight days to leave. At Bedford Village, they have 30 days.

Their families say it’s inhumane.

“If you move them, they might not want to eat again, or live because it’s devastating,” said Michelle Harold, a relative of a nursing home resident. “You move all your stuff, and move into some strange house, without your family.”

“We pay taxes to our government and it’s supposed to go to support the general welfare of all of us,” said Jeannine Pettiford, another relative of a nursing home resident. “And we’re not helping the most vulnerable. They gave them eight days to get out in one case, 30 days in another. They shouldn’t get out at all.”

And some residents are in fact refusing to leave, like a Bedford Village resident for whom Louise Katz serves as healthcare proxy.

“I said to him, ‘Do you want to leave?'” Katz said. “He said, ‘Why would I want to leave? This is my home.’ That’s so sad. We’re going to fight this until the end.”

“I think they underestimated the will of the residents,” Pettiford said. “Because now they’re speaking up and they’re saying, ‘We’re not moving.’ So now what, if they just don’t go?”

“It’s not humane,” she added. “It’s not the way we should run things. I don’t think any citizen should accept that.”

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health responded with the following statement:

Skyline Healthcare had previously announced that the facilities were closing and the state licenses to operate these facilities as nursing homes will be surrendered.

“The safety and well-being of all residents is our utmost priority. As Receiver, we will work with residents and their families, with employees, and with state agencies, including the Department of Public Health, throughout this process to assure the orderly transition of care for the residents,” said Paul Valentine of KCP Advisory, who is leading the receivership.