Maine families grapple with uprooting loved ones amid nursing home closures
SOMERVILLE (WGME) -- The closure of another long-term care facility in Maine will almost certainly leave some families scrambling to find new homes for their loved ones.
It's a situation that's become all too familiar as nursing homes have struggled to stay afloat across the state in recent years.
Two years ago, the CBS13 I-Team introduced you to Frank Slason after the closure of a nursing home force him to uproot his wife Diane, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
She had been living at the Country Manor nursing home in Coopers Mills before a staffing shortage led to its closure. That led to a major gap in long-term care access in that part of the state, one that Slason believes was hard to fill.
"Country Manor was the utopia of nursing homes because everyone who worked there was local. Two of the nurses lived across the street and they could walk right to work," Slason said. "I was able to visit my wife twice a day, because it was only 10 miles away. It was wonderful. Then I had to go to Winthrop."
Heritage Living Center in Winthrop is where Slason had to move Diane, because it was the only facility that was relatively nearby and still had a bed for her. However, Heritage was still more than 30 miles away, and Slason says that meant fewer visits with his wife.
Diane passed away less than a year after being moved, and he believes her being uprooted had a detrimental impact on her health.
"By relocating them, it's a danger," Slason said. "I've had more health care workers say you shouldn't move them when they have Alzheimer's because they can't adapt to change."
Heritage Rehabilitation and Living Center, where Diane was living, has now announced plans to close its doors as well.
The 44 residents of the facility have until May 18 to make new arrangements.
The Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and Maine Department of Health and Human Services are expected to help both employees find work and residents a facility they can move to.