According to the staff, St. Louis Nursing Home, the largest nursing home in Northview Village, suddenly shuts down on Friday without any warning. Older residents, including those with dementia, were quickly moved in wheelchairs while still in hospital gowns, and younger patients, some being treated for injuries or mental illness, walked out into the street on their own.
As the workers' union reported, issues began on Friday when 130 workers did not receive their pay, and it was uncertain whether they would eventually be compensated. The facility's operator informed the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that the facility would be closing down, leaving no comment.
Nursing Home Challenges
In recent years, the nursing home sector in the United States has faced many challenges, with staffing shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in patients with more complex health conditions, and a surge in medical and supply costs. These overlapping issues have led to the financial insolvency of several facilities in the sector.
Medicaid cost reports indicate Northview Village experienced financial losses for multiple years. SNFdata Resources, a tracker of the nursing home sector, revealed that Northview Village had been operating at a deficit since 2018. According to data submitted to Medicare in the previous year, Northview Village reported operating expenses exceeding $16.4 million for 2022, while its revenue was around $13.3 million.
Absence of Forewarning
The abrupt closure of nursing homes is highly uncommon. Typically, state regulators are provided with advance notice, allowing them to collaborate with owners to facilitate a sale or ensure alternative housing arrangements for residents. In Northview Village, employees expressed being unexpectedly left without employment. In contrast, relatives faced the challenge of urgently searching for new facilities where their loved ones had been relocated.
Northview Village received a one out of five-star rating in a federal system, which can sometimes be inflated, per a Times investigation this year. According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the nursing staff at Northview Village spent nearly two hours per day on each resident, which is about half of the national average.
Over the last three years, the facility faced over 20 citations following complaints investigated by inspectors. From March 2021 onwards, it accumulated fines exceeding $140,000 for failing to meet federal standards.
Lenny Jones, the Missouri state director of the Service Employees International Union, mentioned that Northview Village faced staffing shortages. He noted that in recent years, the facility had seen a shift in its patient demographics, with a more significant proportion consisting of younger individuals dealing with mental illness and substance abuse issues, as opposed to the predominantly older population.
The nursing home employees inquired about the company's intentions regarding payment for their last weeks of work on Tuesday while actively seeking new job opportunities and exploring assistance options. Jones emphasized the significance of this particular paycheck they had anticipated just before Christmas.
