Two Rhode Island nursing homes have been placed into receivership, but unlike the last local facility forced down this path, the receiver said there are no regulatory problems.
The receivership is not expected to have any impact on the facilities’ residents, attorney Jeremy Savage told a local media outlet.
“Similarly, my understanding is that the Rhode Island Department of Health has no regulatory concerns with the quality of care being provided at these facilities and is very happy with them from a clinical standpoint,” Savage said in an interview with Go Local Providence. “That is due to the hard work and passion of our dedicated employees who are the most critical assets that these facilities have.”
A judge appointed Savage the receiver for Herbert Health in Smithfield and Trinity Health and Rehabilitation Center in Woonsocket, both owned by Jeffrey Barnhill and James Flangan, Go Local reported. Barnhill and Flanagan also own related real estate companies.
Savage did not respond to a request for comment from McKnight’s Long-Term News about why the two facilities were placed into receivership. Go Local Providence, though, quoted him implicating the national, nursing home workforce crisis and a delayed funding increase in Rhode Island.
The current Medicaid daily pay rate is $250 per patient. Under an increase in the state’s fiscal year 2024, that rate will jump to $267 per patient day but not until Oct. 1.
The closure of six facilities since early 2020 and the receiverships are due to “chronic underfunding” over more than a decade, John Gage, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, told McKnight’s on Monday.
“That was then exacerbated by the pandemic’s dramatic impact on the nursing facility workforce,” he added. “Recovery will take years, and reimbursement will need to improve significantly to cover that actual cost of providing critical services to the most frail Rhode Islanders.”
LeadingAge Rhode Island Executive Director James Nyberg echoed that frustration.
“This further amplifies the fact that the industry is in crisis, with six nursing homes closing in the last three years, three currently in receivership, and existing providers hanging on by a thread,” he told McKnight’s. “Moreover, most are operating with the threat of our onerous staffing mandate penalties hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damocles.”
In May, Pawtucket Falls Healthcare Center was placed into receivership after a surprise inspection from the state Department of Health revealed a pattern of staff medical errors, improperly administered COVID tests, a resident with a broken bone unnoticed for two days, and other problems.
