Aging Building, Failing Inspections, Apparent Loss Of Medicare & Medicaid Reimbursements Lead To Nursing Home Shutdown, Triggering The Boot For 60 Frail Senior Citizens

In Tybee Island, Georgia, WSAV-TV Channel 3 reports:

• Residents at Tybee Nursing Home were told they needed to leave [last week]. The company that manages the facility, New Beginnings filed for bankruptcy in January. Ironically, attorneys for New Beginnings officials were in bankruptcy court in Tennessee the same time residents were having their belongings packed.
  
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  We checked the facility’s rating and found its overall and health inspection ratings to be well below average. In both categories the facility received one star out of five. Poor inspections lead to a loss of Medicare and Medicaid money, which appears to be exactly what happened in the case of the Tybee facility.
  
  An email from Terry Walker at New Beginnings (which was received at 6:15 p.m. Thursday) said “the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a notice of their intent to terminate the agreement at Oceanside back near the first part of May due to regulatory issues we have not been able to work out with the Dept of Community Health. We have tried unsuccessfully through appeal and legal measures to prevent the termination from happening.”
  
  Walker’s email went on to say “Oceanside is a facility that is more than 40 years old and requires a great deal of maintenance and repair. The physical plant and environmental issues are due largely to the age of the building. We do not own the facility. We are a management company that leases the building from the owner. We have spent more than $250,000 in the last 3 months and a great deal more than that over the last year. We have operated the building for less than 3 years. We had the intentions of continuing to make improvements and renovate but are not able to keep the facility open. We have attempted without success over the last several months to work with the owner to transition the operation to another operator.”
  
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  Walker also said that “the 60 residents we had here and their responsible parties (were notified) of the process of relocating the residents. Most have been able to stay in the county. We will be able to retain many of the employees at another location but not all of them.”
  
  Walker did not indicate how many employees worked at Tybee or when all the residents will be moved.

For the story, see Elderly Residents told they have to Leave Tybee Nursing Home.