Families speak out as judge temporarily stops Sullivan County nursing home closure
Petitioners allege residents were rushed out of the Care Center at Sunset Lake as they challenge how Sullivan County made the decision to close it.
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Families of seniors and people with disabilities living at the Care Center at Sunset Lake are speaking out about what they describe as a rushed and poorly communicated effort to move residents out of the county-owned nursing home.
Those families gathered Thursday outside the Sullivan County Government Center in Monticello, one day after a judge granted their request for a temporary restraining order stopping further resident relocations and staff layoffs for now.
Among the petitioners are sisters Bonnie Lewis and Patti Milisauskas, whose 64-year-old sister, Janet, had lived at the Care Center for more than five years after being admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Janet uses a wheelchair and requires nursing care.
The sisters say Janet was transferred last Thursday to Valley View Center for Nursing Care in Goshen — about 45 miles and an hour’s drive from their home in Woodbourne. They said the Care Center was about 15 miles and 20 minutes away, allowing them to visit their sister almost daily and easily stop in while running errands or traveling to and from work.
“Now she’s been transferred as of last Thursday to Valley View — a 60-minute, one-way trip, or 45 miles,” Lewis said. “Add that to the price of gas, and it isn’t as easy. It’s not on our path to go to the grocery store or our jobs.”
Lewis, who is Janet’s power of attorney, says the family was not included in discussions about where Janet would be moved.
“They didn’t loop us in,” Lewis said. “They never gave us a handout on how to look at other nursing homes to compare the quality of care, their staffing ratio.”
The sisters also say families were not directly notified about a meeting at the Care Center where representatives were available to discuss the closure and next steps. They say they only learned about it after Janet saw a flyer posted inside the nursing home, took a picture and sent it to them.
“No communication. They blindsided us as well as my sister,” the sisters said. “It was a ‘here’s your hat, where’s your hurry?’”
Sullivan County announced Aug. 19 that it planned to close the Care Center, saying it could no longer afford to operate the facility. The Care Center has 146 certified beds. When the county announced the closure, it said 93 long-term residents lived there. According to various reports, only about two dozen residents remain.
Attorney Michael Sussman, who represents the petitioners, says residents were being moved particularly quickly in the days leading up to the court order.
“We know there was a rush in the last week or 10 days to dispossess people of their homes at that facility,” Sussman said.
The petitioners allege the decision to close the Care Center was made behind closed doors months before the county publicly announced it in August. Sussman also says there is no clear record of a vote to close the facility and has raised questions about whether enough legislators were present for the reported vote.
“People are going to have to be accountable for the decision and the way the decision was made,” Sussman said.
Sussman drew comparisons Thursday to the yearslong fight over Orange County’s Valley View nursing home. He represented residents and employees there in a successful legal challenge involving Orange County’s attempt to transfer the county-owned facility.
“The excuse for closing Valley View in Orange County was an economic excuse,” Sussman said.
A court ultimately found that Orange County’s 2013 resolution authorizing the transfer required a two-thirds vote of the County Legislature. The ruling was upheld on appeal, and Valley View remained under county ownership.
“The point is Valley View has since turned a profit,” Sussman said, arguing that financial and management changes can make a county-run nursing home viable.
The temporary restraining order in the Sullivan County case stops further resident relocations, pauses staff layoffs and requires the county to continue caring for residents who remain at the Care Center. The county has previously said the New York State Department of Health approved its closure plan and that no resident would be left without a skilled-care option.
News 12 has reached out to Sullivan County for more information about what the court order means for residents and staff and for a response to the allegations raised by the petitioners.
News 12 has also reached out to the New York State Department of Health for comment.
The case is due back in court Monday.
