The state is looking to help place nearly 20 residents still remaining at , after a judge ordered the nursing home shut down.
A recent from a court-appointed receiver overseeing the nursing home described the failure of the hospital-grade ventilator system, water damage to elevators and evidence of overnight employees sleeping on the job.
Mairead Painter, the state鈥檚 long-term care ombudswoman, discussed the next steps for residents.
鈥淭he state worked with the in order to have other beds opened in a special unit in order to support these individuals,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I know has some ability to support individuals as well as there's a building in the Bristol area that has the ability to support individuals on ventilators.鈥�
The residents will receive a 60-day notice with a discharge plan, and some residents are likely to appeal.
Meanwhile, the facility filed a on impending layoffs beginning as early as Nov. 6, impacting 125 employees at the facility. In a to the nursing home employees, receiver Katherine B. Sacks said that depending on the rate of discharge, 鈥渨e may need to scale down staff to meet the needs of the remaining residents and satisfy our fiduciary obligations to spend money responsibly.鈥�
Painter said beyond Waterbury Gardens, the problem is systemic.
鈥淲e see the financial support that the state gives to the facility going out in management fees or going out of the facility in other ways; we want transparency, we want to have a better understanding of that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e're not seeing it go back into the physical plant either. That's why we have a lot of buildings where we have physical plant issues. We see boiler issues, roof issues, mold issues.鈥�
Painter said the state is also in talks with several nursing homes to potentially install ventilator units to be able to accommodate the remaining residents.
This story has been updated.
