Thursday, July 22, 1999
Home's residents will not relocate
Nursing center's case still pending
BY LEW MOORES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NORTH COLLEGE HILL — Residents of a nursing home here will not be relocated as a case winds its way through federal court.
The Ohio Department of Health said a U.S. District Court judge Tuesday asked attorneys for Cathedral Rock Corp. — which operates Beechknoll Convalescent Center — and the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to submit briefs by next week and indicated a decision would be made within 30 days.
Cathedral Rock had asked the court to prevent HCFA from stopping Medicaid/Medicare payments on residents of the Beechknoll nursing home.
Jane Beathard, a public information officer with the state department of health, said none of the residents of Beechknoll will be moved or relocated while the issue is being resolved.
“We're not actually going to relocate residents at this time,” said Ms. Beathard.
There are 48 Medicaid/Medicare residents at Beechknoll and 23 private-pay residents. Beechknoll, located at 6550 Hamilton Ave., is to have its Medicaid/Medicare funding terminated because of deficiencies found by health
inspectors at the facility.
HCFA was going to cut off Medicaid/Medicare funding within the next 30 days, which would have meant relocating those residents covered under Medicaid/Medicare to other care facilities.
“That's not going to happen,” said Kent Harrington, president of Cathedral Rock Corp., which took over operation of Beechknoll in May.
Some family members of residents at Beechknoll reacted with both alarm and anger to the news that residents may have to be relocated and that Beechknoll faces revocation of its license by the state.
Mr. Harrington said not a single resident or any of their families have expressed any desire to move out of the facility.
“I think the whole thing has been terribly overblown,” said Herb Menkhaus, of White Oak, whose mother, Lillian Menkhaus, is 97 years old and has lived at Beechknoll for 11/2 years. “There have been a number of changes since the new owners took over. They've worked to improve the appearance of the place. My mother is here by choice. It's sanitary and clean. By and large, the people are friendly and helpful. I haven't seen any serious problems.”
Others say the thought of relocating to another facility is psychologically upsetting to the elderly residents and could mean a heightened sense of loneliness.
Sherman Bradley lives in Forest Park and visits his mother, Nancy Bradley, who is 89 years old, several times a week. One reason he can do this, he explained, is the proximity of his house.
“One of the biggest problems is loneliness,” said Mr. Bradley. “It would create a hardship if you start to scatter these people around. There needs to be more places like this. You know, we, too, shall pass this way.”
Mr. Bradley's brother, George W. Bradley, also lives in Forest Park and visits three or four times a week. Their mother has lived at Beechknoll for about 18 months.
“They have done a wonderful job here,” said George Bradley. “It's cleaner, there's better care, better therapy. Whatever happened in the past, you can't blame them for that.”
Said Mr. Menkhaus, “Reorientation is a very difficult process (when a resident is moved into a home). Then to undo that and go somewhere else is incomprehensible to me. Everything would be foreign to them.”
HCFA terminates Medicaid/Medicare payments to a health provider about two or three times a year in Ohio, said Ms. Beathard. There are about 1,000 nursing homes in the state.
But officials with the Ohio Department of Health, which makes inspections for HCFA, said the deficiencies that have turned up in inspections since January include bed sores on residents, failure to change sanitary undergarments on a timely basis, improperly applied splints used for range of motion, staff members not having proper training.
Some of the deficiencies have been corrected; about eight are outstanding.
“Bed sores were a major problem,” said Ms. Beathard. “That's a very critical issue, both to us and to the feds.”
Mr. Harrington said new staff has been hired at the facility and three of the four residents who had bed sores had developed them at hospitals before being moved to Beechknoll.
Cathedral Rock also has asked for a hearing on a move by the state to revoke their license.
“Their license is also in jeopardy,” Ms. Beathard said. “We have said that we're going to revoke their license. There's no real time frame for this.”
Whatever happens between HCFA and Cathedral Rock will not affect the state health department's decision to hold a hearing on the revocation of the license of Beechknoll, said Ms. Beathard. “It's a separate issue,” she said.
HCFA oversees all Medicaid/Medicare payments, or reimbursements, for hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers. The state health department licenses nursing homes, and is the agency that makes inspections at the direction of HCFA.
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