Hickory Creek Closing Its Doors

"The rumors are true," said Hickory Creek administrator Kathy Pearson Thursday. The facility is being closed.

She said the staff was told the closing is because of the structural foundation of the building. She said, "It's moving off the foundation."

Hickory Creek is owned by Omega Health Care, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., and managed by Atrium Living Centers, Indianapolis. Pearson said she is taking the word of the owners on why the facility is being closed, though some employees are skeptical. Financially, she said, the facility is fine and provides good care for residents.

Pearson also said the company does not want to relocate the facility.

"It's a really emotional time," Pearson said.

There is no rush in closing down the facility, Pearson said, because they want to find the appropriate placement for all their residents and make sure they all receive quality care. It's estimated they will be closed by June 1, but no definite date is set.

Hickory Creek, according to Pearson, has "a lot of your Alzheimer's residents. Those with mental retardation," behavioral and verbal problems. Their residents are often difficult to place in geriatrics, she said. "We understand the reasons for not placing them in geriatric homes."

Currently, they have 32 residents and are "only a 40-bed facility anyhow," said Pearson. The average number of residents is 32.

Hickory Creek has been at its Center Street location in Warsaw for 30 years, she said.

Meg Clark, director of operations for Atrium, said the closing was the decision of the owners. "To rebuild," Clark said, "is not a very sound business decision."

She said there are several facilities within a half-mile of Hickory Creek for residents if their families agree.

There has been no official notice of the closure yet, Clark said, because they know the residents are "special people with special needs." They are letting the families know so they can check all their options.

Brent Waymire, regional vice president for Atrium, said, "The decision to close this building is from an environmental standpoint." Estimates to repair the foundation problem were "too costly," so the decision was made to "close it rather than salvage."

Atrium manages a similar facility in Huntington that may be able to take some of the residents.

Waymire also said they have had inquiries about the building being purchased and if that's true, they would sell it instead of closing its doors.

Matt Leachman has a relative by marriage at the facility who has a developmental disability. He also works in a field that deals with people with disabilities.

"What was so amazing to me," Leachman said, "was that state agencies were not contacted before the families were notified." He said that is rare. "We're very concerned about the closing."

Waymire said, "We're regulated by law to give a 30-day discharge notice." They actually haven't given official notice to families but let them know they will be closing in 60 to 75 days. They will work to find the Hickory Creek residents new living arrangements and need to take time to find new places.

"You can't do that," Waymire said, "unless you tell the family that's going to happen."

Leachman said they were notified about the closing Wednesday.

"It'll be very interesting to see where all these people end up," he said. The Hickory Creek residents will be hard to place because Hickory Creek serves the most severe and profound patients with disabilities. They are residents most facilities will not be happy to take in, he said.

When the residents move, Leachman said, it is likely they will not be moved in Warsaw. Families of the residents, once the patients are moved, will likely have to drive long distances to see them.

Emily Hartsell, ombudsman, citizens' advocate for residents in nursing homes, said, "At this point, I heard of this (closing) unofficially late yesterday afternoon." She said it was too early to comment on this specific closing because she doesn't yet know enough of the facility's population.

However, generally, "the services for people with mental retardation or illness are very scarce." Some of the residents may receive priority waivers from Medicare to help find and pay for places to live, but that process takes, she said, "quite a long time. The question is if it can happen before June 1."

She also said Omega Health Care is not required to do anything more than give 30-day notice of the closing. They would not have to give notification of the closing until May 1, if they want to close by June 1. "A lot of this (closing) is speculation," said Hartsell. "It's going to be a very big deal at the end of it."

Nursing homes, she said, can house only two mentally retarded people at a time. If they have more than two, the nursing home must hire a qualified mental retardation professional. The QMR acts as a consultant, helping with goals and programs for the residents. More scrutiny is then placed on the nursing home.

That creates a hardship for the residents who must leave Hickory Creek because most nursing home facilities have reached their quota, Hartsell said.

Hickory Creek employees, if they are willing to travel, can accept jobs at other facilities Atrium manages - in Columbia City, Kendallville or Huntington, Waymire said.

Atrium, Waymire said, "represents (Omega) in the state for their nursing home property."

According to information provided by the Indiana Department of Health, while they do not have any information on Hickory Creek in Warsaw closing, there are other Hickory Creeks closing throughout the state. Those Hickory Creeks' dates of closing are Bluffton, March 8; Delphi, Jan. 8; Frankfort, Jan. 8; Greenfield, Jan. 8; North Vernon, Jan. 8; Richmond, March 8.