Nursing home receives OK to close
Saratoga Center currently has 35 state violation citations
The former Saratoga County nursing home has been granted permission to close by the state Department of Health.
Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R-ballston), who said she got a tip that the state health department is allowing the Saratoga Center for Rehab and Skilled Nursing Care to shutter, said she is “extremely concerned ... particularly in the midst of the current pandemic.”
“I am also concerned that I was not formally notified of this issue as one of the facility ’s state representatives,” Walsh said in a news release. “The impact that COVID -19 has had on nursing home facilities, their patients and staff has been deeply troubling, and situations like this only raise more questions in a time of such continued uncertainty.”
DOH spokesman Jeffrey Hammond confirmed Wednesday that DOH will allow the facility to close.
“According to the approved plan, all of the residents will be relocated to other longterm care facilities as soon as possible,” Hammond said. “DOH will monitor the facility as closure activities commence to help minimize the impact of this closing on the community, and to make sure every resident is relocated to an appropriate level of care.”
He also said the nursing home will continue operations until the last resident is placed in the most appropriate level of care.
The 257-bed facility, with a one-star rating from the state — out of five — was designated in 2019 as a Special Focus Facility by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for providing care that “has consistently demonstrated failure to maintain compliance, as well as a history of facility practices that have resulted in harm to residents.” The state’s DOH Health Profile website notes that the nursing home is at a 35 percent capacity and currently has 35 state violation citations, 12 of them related to quality of care.
In April 2018, the complaints listed on Health Profile against the nursing home, owned by Proprietary LLC, included not following care plans for residents, not maintaining essential equipment and not ensuring comprehensive person-centered care “consistent with residential rights.”
The website also cited problems related to food storage, preparation and delivery. As well, there was no plan for infection control, medications were not passed out in an untimely manner, and there was no hot water in the kitchen for staff to wash their hands. Inspectors made notes about catheter bags dragging along the floor, dirt and food build-up on the walls and tables and no protocol for testing electrical beds.
Regardless, Walsh said she has many questions for DOH and has requested a letter approving the closure.
“Questions that come to mind include, how many beds are filled at the facility and what type of patient is being served there?,” Walsh said. “If there are long-term patients, what type of plan is in place to ensure a safe and timely transition? Have these changes been properly communicated to the loved ones of those residing there? If so, how much of the transition process will be placed upon them to facilitate? Moving a family member during a pandemic, whether in short-term or long-term placement, cannot be done hastily — especially given the conditions we currently face in these facilities.”
The nursing home was once owned and run by Saratoga County. Then called Maplewood Manor, it was opened in 1982. Zenith Health Care assumed operations of Maplewood in February 2015. The Zenith group was operating under Saratoga Center for Care LLC. In June 2019, DOH listed the owner as Proprietary LLC.