GEORGETOWN, OH (FOX19) -
Meadowwood Care Center owner Jack Crout claims the state is
unnecessarily putting residents of his nursing home in danger by forcing him to
shut down. The Ohio Department of Health, meanwhile, argues Crout has had six
months to correct violations, but is still not in compliance, so the agency is
blocking his Medicare and Medicaid funding.
FOX19 obtained inspection records for Meadowwood showing
major violations last summer: A resident with a mental disability was gone from
the nursing home for two hours after slipping out a door that had been left
unlocked; a state investigator found evidence that mice had eaten food in the
nursing home's kitchen, along with mouse droppings, and two live mice stuck to
a glue mousetrap.
Crout says those issues have been resolved.
The state says the facility has a mold problem, which Crout
denies. He does concede his nursing home still has water damage and frayed,
stained carpeting. However, he argues that should not rise to the level of
blocking his funding. He also accuses the state watchdogs of putting residents
in danger by saying that statistically 18% of the residents who leave will die
because of the disruption. It's a statistic he says he got from his attorney.
FOX19 could not confirm that statistic in our research. However, we did find a
study that suggests the death rate for nursing home patients with severe
dementia skyrockets
after an evacuation.
Factually speaking, the state is not forcing the residents
to leave nor is it forcing Crout to close down Meadowwood. But it is blocking
his Medicare and Medicaid funding, which Crout says will have the same effect.
He says only about five residents self-pay. That means all of the others are
dependent on Medicare and Medicaid to pay their bills. So Crout argues blocking
that funding has the effect of shutting down the facility.
A health department spokeswoman says the funding will
continue for 30 more days and that the state is working with residents and
their families to find other acceptable places to go.
In fact, when FOX19 visited on Monday, a state long-term
care ombudsman was there offering families assistance.
"Some people, we've already heard, will be returning to the
community to live with family," said ombudsman Beverly Laubert with the Ohio
Department of Aging. "Some people are choosing other nursing homes. Someone
might be going to a group home. So lots of options (are) available for people
and we just want to help them."
Crout still hopes to find a way for residents to be able to
stay. He's negotiating with two people who are part of a partnership. They've
expressed interest in buying or leasing the nursing home. He's hoping to come
to an understanding with them quickly because he expects the first residents
may start leaving Friday.
Meanwhile, health department spokeswoman Tessie Pollock says
she understands why many residents are sad to leave since many have gotten, in
her words, "great care." But she also notes that a January inspection, which
the department calls an annual survey, had to be aborted because the
"administration of Meadowwood was being uncooperative and impeding the survey."
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An exasperated Jack Crout, owner of Meadowwood, says he doesn’t understand why the state is coming down so hard on him.
Ombdusman Beverly Laubert is trying to find residents other places to live.
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