This story was updated at 2:25 p.m.:
ST. LOUIS — A north St. Louis nursing home abruptly shut down Friday evening, forcing the relocation of about 170 residents by shuttle bus and leaving about a hundred workers unpaid, union officials said. The last resident was moved before dawn Saturday.
Family members and friends gathered at the facility Saturday, trying to find out where their loved ones had been moved to when Northview Village Nursing Home abruptly closed. Televisions and radios were still on in rooms, and residents’ personal belongings remained. Volunteers tried to help those searching to locate residents, working from a list of long-term care facilities.
Workers at the Northview Village Nursing Home, 2415 Kingshighway Boulevard, noticed Friday afternoon that their two-week paychecks didn’t go through and grew concerned.
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“I went to talk to the administrator near the end of my shift and she just said there were no funds to pay us,” said Marvetta Harrison, a certified medical technician who’s worked at the nursing home for 37 years.
Harrison said then just before 4 p.m. shuttle buses from several other area nursing homes began to arrive to relocate all residents from the care center in Kingsway West.
Harrison said the residents were confused and not getting many answers either.
“Some of those people, we are like their family,” Harrison said. “They don’t have anybody else or any family members.”
Lenny Jones, vice president and Missouri state director for the workers’ union SEIU Healthcare, said about 100 employees at the nursing home were all affected.
State regulators learned of the situation Friday and worked through the night to find residents new accommodations, said Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The sudden closure was due to “workforce issues,” she said.
Northview Village has a 1-star rating, out of a possible 5 stars, from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In February, investigators responded to a complaint that a resident had been able to access an elevator, get to the lobby and leave the facility on his own because no one was monitoring the lobby and the front door was left unlocked. Police found him and brought him back.
Harrison said many of the facility’s workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck, so this will mean they may struggle to pay rent or buy gifts for their kids for Christmas.
“We have hustled and bustled in that building for so long and we’ve been through a lot to care for these people with COVID,” she said. “For them to do this to us is disgusting.”
The center is operated by Healthcare Accounting Services LLC, according to the organization’s website. It’s licensed to have up to 320 patient beds. The company owns several other long-term care facilities, including Grand Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation in St. Louis’ Grand Center neighborhood.
The company’s owner, Mahklouf “Mark” Suissa, of Chicago, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
The longtime employee, Harrison, said it’s still unclear to the workers if the nursing home will reopen, if the jobs will return or if they’ll ever get their paychecks.
Workers were given a phone number to call about their missed paychecks, but the number just put them on hold. Eventually, the call would just cut out, Harrison said.
Vanessa Abbitt and Annika Merrilees of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
A man helps Michele Waller load things into her trunk at Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Waller worked there for five years as a receptionist, while her mother worked there as a housekeeper. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
A room is left empty on the fourth floor at Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
Mobility equipments and other things are left near the lobbyof Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
Desks are left with people’s belongings in a room on the ground floor at Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
A note to says “Don’t be in a hurry, put stuff in the right place where it belongs,” in a room on the ground floot at Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
A man loads things into his car outside Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
A sign lists rights of residents of long-term care facilities at Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
Lisa Smith, left, speaks with Vera Turner, a pastor who arrived at Northview Village Nursing Home to meet with her friend who is a resident, and a volunteer who asked to not be identified by name in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
A woman, who wished to not be identified by name, sits in the lobby of Northview Village Nursing Home with teary eyes in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. The living facility closed suddenly, much to the outrage of employees, volunteers and relatives of residents who returned to find their belongings and information of the whereabouts of loved ones. The woman has been volunteering at the facility for 21 years. Photo by Vanessa Abbitt, [email protected]
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