THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 22, 1996 TAG: 9607220053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 54 lines
More than 150 nursing-home residents will have to move to other facilities across the state after the Forest Hill Convalescent Center lost its certification to house people funded by Medicaid.
Medicaid will move the residents wherever there is an open bed in the state, with many likely going to nursing homes in Hampton Roads - some as early as today.
The prospect has some families upset.
``These people have some rights,'' said Barbara Farnandis, of Powhatan, whose 83-year-old aunt, Kathryn Altwegg, has lived at the center three years.
``They don't deserve to be moved like this.''
Farnandis said she got two days' notice. ``I feel like I've been hit by a two-by-four.''
The 15 residents who are not being paid for by Medicaid will not have to move, administrators said.
Officials of Convalescent Care, which owns the center, said they were notified of Medicaid's decision Friday morning.
Representatives of the state Department of Medical Assistance Services, which administers Medicaid in Virginia, could not be reached for comment.
Medicaid officials planned to meet with families and friends of center residents Monday evening, center administrators said.
Robert G. Jackson, president of Convalescent Care, said a Medicaid certification team visited the center in December and logged seven grievances. The center was given six months to correct the problems.
Jackson said improvements were being made, and as late as Thursday administrators were under the impression they were making acceptable progress.
The center is still licensed to operate in Virginia, and is making improvements requested by the state, Jackson said.
Jackson said Medicaid's guidelines are based too much on paperwork and do not give enough credit to the actual care provided.
``I admit we may not have dotted every `i' and crossed every `t', but the treatment of the patient was not abridged,'' Jackson said.
Residents say they are disturbed by the decision.
The Rev. Herman Clarke said that, when he arrived to live at the center after being burned in a fire, he could barely move. Now, he said, he gets in and out of bed from his wheelchair on his own.
``I've come a long way with the help of this institution,'' he said.
Moreover, he said, a move could be tragic for some fellow residents.
``It may be the means of their death,'' he said. ``Some may be able to take it, but others may not be able to take it.''
But while others with relatives at the center agreed Medicaid's decision will cause residents and their relatives hardships, they also noted that the center has problems.
KEYWORDS: NURSING HOMES by CNB