FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) - A Ferguson nursing home beset by problems, including the alleged rape of an elderly resident, is shutting down.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that people who attended a Tuesday meeting at Christian Care Home were told it will close because it lacks enough patients to cover costs. A Post-Dispatch reporter was barred from the meeting.
Relatives of residents were told they’ll have 30 to 60 days to move them. The nursing home will close in January. Representatives from other St. Louis-area nursing homes attended the meeting to discuss options with families.
An email message left Wednesday with the nursing home administrator was not immediately returned.
Vivian Collette Green called police on Sept. 1 after finding injuries on her 84-year-old mother indicating she had been raped. The elderly woman has dementia and can’t speak.
A possible suspect living in the nursing home has been identified but not charged, pending results of lab tests.
Green filed suit earlier this year on behalf of her mother against the Christian Women’s Benevolent Association, owners of Christian Care Home.
After being treated at a hospital, Green’s mother now resides at another nursing facility.
The nursing home was previously cited for failure to report and investigate abuse of residents and failure to hire only people with no legal history of abuse. Medicare levied a $78,000 fine after state investigators found a nurse had slapped a resident who had dementia.
Medicare has rated the nursing home as below average, with a history of poor quality of care and staffing levels below the national average.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
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