Families of residents at Windsor Locks nursing home navigate moving process ahead of facility closure
Where will their loved ones be next? That’s the question dozens of families asked Monday night after learning a Windsor Locks nursing home will shut down next month.
The closure comes just over a month after 93-year-old Margaret “Peggy” Healey walked out of the facility and into freezing temperatures. It took three hours to find her, and she was in a snowbank.
The Bickford Health Care Center has since been ordered to close by April 10 due to safety concerns, according to State Sen. Jeff Gordon. This now means families need to start the moving process.
“They’ve become a close-knit community here, and there’s not a lot of other homes just in this exact area, but they understand, although it’s not something they want to see,” Mairead Painter, the long-term care ombudsman, said.
When Healey was found, the wind chill was 15 below zero. The Department of Public Health (DPH) then began its own investigation and last week ordered that all residents be out by next month. Which leads us to Monday night, where families had a chance to try to figure out the moving process with the help of the long-term care ombudsman.
“They’re provided with notice. They then receive information about other nursing homes. There’s a discharge plan team here that will help them do all the paperwork and manage all of those things, so they don’t have to worry about it,” Painter said.
But there was still anxiety for some families.
One person whose significant other has lived at Bickford for six months says he’s stressed over having to find a new nursing home again. Gordon, who’s been keeping tabs on the process, says as a doctor, it’s an understandable feeling.
“Patients themselves and families become extremely anxious. How far away will they be? Can family and friends visit?” he said.
He says he would like the April 10 closing date extended if residents don’t find housing right away.
“I don’t want them to rush this and say, ‘ Oh, by April 10th, everyone has to be out at Bickford.’ If it takes longer, it takes longer to do it right,” he said.
Painter also says if there are any other concerns about Bickford or the moving process, to contact her office at 1-866-388-1888 or 860-424-5200 or email at ltcop@ct.gov.
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