Owner of problem nursing homes closing facility
Fairlawn Rehab & Nursing Home, which is on a federal list of the nation’s worst nursing homes, is voluntarily closing.
Owners of the nursing home in Copley, west of Akron, notified the Ohio Department of Health on Monday that it is closing the facility on Sept. 10. The state requires a 90-day notice of closure.
The owner, Hillstone Healthcare, had notified the state last week that it intended to sell the facility to another company next month. The latest filing indicates Fairlawn Rehab instead will close.
Fairlawn is one of 39 nursing homes across Ohio operated by Hillstone and its sister company Boulder, both of which are headquartered in Lewis Center.
One of their central Ohio facilities, Uptown Westerville at 140 Old County Line Road, will close by June 20 after the federal government stopped making payments to it, citing a track record of poor care. As of Tuesday morning, two residents were still left at the nursing home. More than 100 residents have been relocated.
Hillstone and Boulder also operate Isabelle Ridgway Post Acute Care Campus on the Near East Side and Columbus Colony Elder Care in Westerville.
Fairlawn Rehab also is one of five Ohio nursing homes on a list of 88 federal “Special Focus Facilities” nationwide with the most serious history of quality-of-care issues.
State inspectors found problems big enough to threaten residents’ health — such as untreated bedsores and unchecked or untreated diabetes — to slights and poor management that hurt resident dignity.
In an email Tuesday afternoon, Paul Bergsten, who co-owns Hillstone and Boulder Healthcare, said: “We have operated the home for a year and a half and we do believe the care has improved in the last year at Fairlawn.”
Sam Mccoy, senior vice president of elder rights for Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities, said his organization has been fielding lots of complaints about Fairlawn Rehab for the past six to eight months.
Mccoy said he was “disappointed the Hillstone and Boulder organization was not willing to invest the time and effort and energy to bring their facility up to standards.”
“I say that because I know they are the owners and operators of many other facilities in the state,” he added. “It’s frustrating to me that for all the reasons to get into the business, they’re not willing to invest in the improvement of care.”
A team of state and local agency representatives has already been assembled to help Fairlawn Rehab’s approximately 64 residents look for new care, either in their private homes or at another facility, Mccoy said.