Hospital workers bitter over closing's secrecy

ALEXANDRIA BAY — River Hospital's employees, residents of its skilled nursing unit and their families were upset to learn of the unit's possible closure by reading it in Thursday's Times, rather than finding out from administration.

Ann K. Narrow, a registered nurse and River Hospital's vice president of nursing for acute care services, said some staff learned of the closure plan at a 5:30 a.m. meeting Thursday at the hospital.

"It's unfortunate it happened the way that it did because it made it more of a difficult situation, and it made it more painful for staff and residents and their families to hear it that way," she said.

Beth F. Barnes, administrator of the skilled nursing facility at River Hospital, said nurses were shocked and upset to learn they might lose their jobs through the newspaper rather than from hospital administrators.

"The nurses are very saddened. There have been a lot of tears," she said Thursday.

Mrs. Narrow said her mother-in-law, Barbara Narrow, lives in the skilled nursing unit. Although the elder Mrs. Narrow declined comment, Ann Narrow said her mother-in-law and family will be making visits to other nursing homes.

"We're just going to look, and wait and hear from the state," she said.

Alexandria Bay resident Robert C. Nelson said he was shocked to learn of the news Thursday. His father, Thomas Nelson, has been a resident of the skilled nursing unit for about four years and suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

"I'm looking for two things to come out of this; my concern is to get him a good facility to get taken care of, and the other, being a lifelong resident, is the viability of that institution," Robert Nelson said.

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Ben Moore III said although the board had weighed the decision for several months, board members weren't supposed to go public with the news until the closure plan was approved by the state Department of Health.

"The resulting publicity in advance of our ability to inform our residents and staff was an extreme disservice to the entire River Hospital community," Mr. Moore said in a press release issued Friday. "We are extremely distressed that a board member chose to resign and reveal our closure plans to the media."

The state Health Department has no predetermined length of time for the process, Mr. Moore said. It could have been days, weeks or months before residents, their families and employees were notified of the closure plan.

"The second we get notified of approval we would have gone to employees and residents," Mr. Moore said. "We'd have to hustle once we knew that."

The board approved the closure plan, pending state Health Department approval, Wednesday afternoon. Already knowing the board's decision, Nellie M. Taylor resigned a few hours before the meeting. She then made the Times aware of the situation.

Mrs. Taylor said the hospital needs to find ways to keep the program afloat until the tide turns.

"I feel that we need to go to the legislators and the community and ask for assistance," she said.

State Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said the closure plan is under review, but he wouldn't comment on the likelihood of the facility closing.

One issue residents, their families and River Hospital staff are trying to figure out is where the residents could transfer to within the county.

River Hospital's occupancy rate for 2009 was 98.2 percent, which means 26 or 27 beds were occupied at any given time.

Other skilled nursing facilities in Jefferson County also have high occupancy rates.

The 2009 occupancy rate at Carthage Area Hospital's 30-bed skilled nursing facility in Carthage was 92.4 percent, where 27 to 28 beds were typically occupied at any given time.

Country Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, Carthage, had 85 to 86 beds occupied at any given time with a 2009 occupancy rate of 95.08 percent for its 90-bed skilled nursing facility.

Samaritan Keep Home's 272-bed facility in Watertown had a 98 percent to 99 percent occupancy rate for 2009, according to Samaritan spokeswoman Krista A. Kittle. That meant 269 to 270 beds were occupied at any given time.

Data for the 2009 occupancy rate for Mercy of Northern New York's 224-bed skilled nursing facility were unavailable Friday afternoon.

Ms. Kittle said Samaritan has received a few inquiries from people who have family members in River Hospital's adult day care program, as well as four applications for admission to Samaritan Keep Home from residents of River Hospital's skilled nursing unit.

Mr. Moore said River Hospital will work with residents and their families to try to figure out possible relocation solutions. Waiting for approval from the state Health Department is tough, he said, because everyone wants answers now.

"The more information you don't have, the more difficult it is to manage, and that's where we are," he said.