Nursing home forced to close: 5 things we know now

As of Aug. 1, a Columbus nursing home that previously housed the most sex offenders of any facility in the state has lost its ability to bill Medicaid and Medicare and is closing.

Ohio nursing home with most sex offenders shut down for repeat violations

Here’s 5 things to know about Bryden Place and the closure.

1. Most residents have been moved to new homes

The office of Ohio’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman, part of the Department of Aging, has been assisting with moving residents to new homes since it became apparent that the home would need to close weeks ago, said Ombudsman Bev Laubert.

The home had 144 residents when relocation efforts began. 60 of those individuals were on managed care plans and representatives from those plans helped with finding new nursing homes for them.

As of Thursday, all but 16 residents had been moved out.

Some residents, Laubert said, don’t need to be in nursing homes, so the state is trying to find appropriate housing for them in group homes or assisted living instead.

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2. The facility previously housed 18 sex offenders

When the Dayton Daily News did an investigation into the challenges presented by sex offenders living in nursing homes in September, Bryden Place housed the most registered offenders of any facility in the state with 18.

Laubert didn’t know how many people on the registry were living there at the time of the closure, but there are eight individuals whose addresses are still listed as 1169 Bryden Road on the state registry as of Monday.

Placing those individuals into new nursing homes is a challenge, Laubert said, as some facilities will accept registered offenders and some will not.

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3. Ranking was below average

Medicare.gov’s Nursing Home Compare website has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country.

It ranks facilities from one to five stars based on:

  • How nursing homes have performed on health and fire safety inspections
  • How the nursing home is staffed with nurses and other healthcare providers
  • How well nursing homes care for their residents

Bryden Place had an overall ranking of one out of five stars or “much below average.”

Its rating in health inspections was much below average. Its staffing rating was average and its quality of resident care rating was average.

4. Bryden Place had 53 health inspection citations in less than six months

The last full health inspection, conducted by the state, was on May 11.

At that time the home was cited for failing to protect residents from abuse; failing to report and investigate reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents; failing to make sure each resident gets a nutritional and well balanced diet; failing to give each resident enough water to prevent dehydration; and failing to develop a care plan that meets all the resident’s needs, among other citations.

In July, an incident specific inspection was conducted after a resident with cognitive problems was found wandering at a church nearly two miles away, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

That inspection identified violations that placed, “the health and safety of your residents in immediate jeopardy.”

The nursing home also had a scare last December when high levels of carbon monoxide forced an evacuation and sent 10 residents to the hospital.

READ MORE: Ohio’s sex offender registry missing critical information

5. The state has moved to revoke its license

The Ohio Department of Health sent the facility an order July 21 revoking its license. Owners were given 30 days from that date to appeal the decision and had not done so as of late last week.

If the license is revoked, Bryden Place will not have the ability to “sell their beds,” Laubert said. Ohio licenses a set number of nursing home facility “beds” or the number of licensed spots for patients. Unused spots at one facility can be sold to another facility, but only if they remain licensed.

The average price for a licensed bed in Ohio has fluctuated between about $9,000 and $19,000 over the past few decades, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

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