Several Massachusetts skilled nursing facilities run by embattled Skyline Healthcare are closing, days after they were placed into receivership.
The state’s Department of Public Health revealed Wednesday that the Woodridge, NJ-based company is voluntarily surrendering licenses for five SNFs in the Bay State. Officials are now working with Skyline on an orderly closure of the facilities, the Bedford Standard-Times reported.
Almost 250 residents at the five Southeastern Massachusetts SNFs are now scrambling to find new accommodations, with one family member calling the situation “an absolute nightmare.”
“I have to do what’s best for my patients,” said Steven Haase, executive director of the Bedford Gardens, who has struggled to keep the nursing home staffed, with employees departing after paychecks bounced. “If I can’t get adequate staff in here to take care of them, then I need to do the right thing and let the patients know they should look elsewhere where they can get better care.”
Haase said he has not heard from Skyline in recent days, and the company’s phone number and website were not working Thursday afternoon. At least 76 of the company’s SNFs have been placed into receivership across the U.S., McKnight’s has reported.
State officials had previously frozen admissions at the five Bristol County nursing homes, located in Dighton, Fall River and New Bedford, because of “ongoing operational issues.” The Department of Health could not say when the facilities would close, but expressed regret for uprooting fragile seniors.
