ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: STAFFORD
SOURCE: Associated Press
A financially troubled Stafford County nursing home closed after 34 patients were transferred under state supervision and 48 employees were laid off.
Brookwood Nursing Home's closing came after years of financial and legal problems. The home filed for bankruptcy protection in 1993.
Patients were transferred to other nursing homes throughout Central and Northern Virginia last week.
``It was pretty sad,'' said Mary Williard, a certified nursing assistant. ``They didn't want to go.''
The home, founded in 1962, had a history of not paying local and federal taxes. Employees complained that their paychecks sometimes bounced, and some vendors refused to provide goods or services unless they were paid in cash first.
The Internal Revenue Service is Brookwood's major creditor, claiming $557,832 in unpaid taxes dating to 1990, said Robert G. Mayer, a Fairfax lawyer and bankruptcy trustee.
Mayer said he tried to sell the nursing home to Ronald Bailey, the former general manager, and others but could not reach an agreement. So he decided to close the home as quickly as possible so the shortage of cash did not affect patient care.
Thirty-two of the 34 patients receive Medicaid assistance, he said, so the state stepped in to supervise their transfer. The state had not had to do that since 1986, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Medical Assistance Services.
State employees met with the families and called other nursing homes to find bed space. They were moved in small clusters by ambulance and cars.
Mayer said the move was upsetting for many of the elderly, but several were able to go to facilities closer to their families.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB