A long-troubled nursing home in southwestern Ohio — the one that was home to more registered sex offenders than any other in the state — has officially closed.
The last one of 131 residents at Carlton Manor in Washington Court House in Fayette County was moved today.
Carlton Manor had become the state’s de facto nursing home for people who were difficult to place. In addition to 27 registered sex offenders living there, nearly all the other residents had some sort of behavioral, psychological or mental-health problem. Many had a history of violent or aggressive behavior and some had criminal backgrounds.
The Ohio Department of Health, which licenses nursing homes, said in January it was revoking the home’s license because of a series of failed inspections and a history of trouble, which included not reporting suspected sexual abuse and improperly restraining residents. The government has pulled the home’s Medicaid and Medicare funding.
Of the 131 residents in the facility when the state ordered the closure, 99 moved to other nursing facilities; 21 went to developmental-disability centers; four were placed in mental-health group homes; three moved home; and four died of natural causes.
Finding new homes for all the residents went more smoothly than expected, said Tessie Pollock, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health.
The state pulled together a team from several disciplines, including the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities to evaluate each resident.
Beverley Laubert, the state’s long-care ombudsman with the Ohio Department of Aging, led the placement process.
“The team worked hard to get everyone into a setting that was even better for their needs,” Pollock said.
Special care was taken to find homes for the registered sex offenders, Pollock said. Ohio does not require notification of other residents of a nursing home when a sex offender moves in, but, by law, the local authorities are always notified as with any such sex-offender case.
“Placement was less of a challenge than we thought it would be,” for those offenders, she said.
Mr. Miller’s older brother, [Sam], isn’t a sex offender. He’s an alcoholic dying of cirrhosis. He had been in and out of Carlton Manor over the past four years. Mr. Miller said his brother slept on a dirty mattress in a broken bed and wore soiled clothes. Other residents stole almost all of his possessions.
He was one of the first residents to move in January; he’s now at Signature Healthcare, also in Washington Court House.
Mr. Miller said his brother’s progress in just days was remarkable. He said he is much happier now.
“I don’t get yelled at and they don’t steal from me,” he said on a recent visit. “This is like a mansion compared to the other place.”
Carlton Manor’s owner has asked for an administrative hearing to fight the revocation of its license but no date has been set. ..Source.. by Holly Zachariah
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