The last decade or so has been rough on nursing homes in St. Louis. While readers at first might find the link tenuous to history, they must be reminded that many are in historic buildings, and likewise, neighborhoods are kept healthy when members of society are able to “age in place,” meaning they do not have to move away from their support networks and community when they reach the age when they need assisted living. In that arena, North St. Louis has been hit hard, as evidenced with the closure of Northview Village in December.
Further east, we saw the closure and eventual sale in 2022 of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which was a huge facility. I believe it is now operating as a homeless shelter, but it still took hundreds of beds for senior citizens out of service. In this instance, the Catholic Church was smart; they kept the buildings staffed with security, making sure it was not destroyed by vandals, trespassers and scrappers.
Conversely, to the northeast, the Towerview Nursing Home hit the skids well over a decade ago, being absolutely destroyed within a year of closing (for good reason, judging from state records of violations). No on-site security allowed for the quick despoliation of the complex.
Meanwhile, I just learned that the Jennings Senior Apartments was closed for a whole year due to a water main break on Christmas Day of 2022, its residents forced to live in hotel rooms for the whole of last year. Let’s not forget how the former Corpus Christi, converted into a senior center, is now vacant and deteriorating.
But South St. Louis wasn’t spared either, seeing the closure in early 2023 of the Riverview Nursing Facility, which only opened in 2000 and features wonderful views of the Mississippi River. How did this place fail so quickly?! It looked like they struggled with financial issues.
Everything went straight to hell, during the 4 yr term of you know who.😳
Obamacare is (or was) a great marketing tool. People fled to the idea of universal healthcare. The Catholic nursing home where my grandmother lived is gone. The Sisters of Mercy and it’s building are who-knows-what now. Obamacare required employers to pay for employees health care for every 40 hour-per-week employee. Every small business I patronized cut their workers hours from 40 to 35; thus escaping paying. Liberal ideas sometimes come at hidden costs.
Medicaid cut its reimbursements to nursing homes and many of these facilities work on very tight budgets. The politicians of both parties are to blame for the dismal social safety net that makes this country one of the worst in the world to grow old in. Since people are generally living longer, they often run out of funds and simply can’t afford nursing home care. The employees are often paid at a pitifully poor rate despite the fact that caring for the elderly is one of the most demanding and stressful jobs there is. This wouldn’t be an issue in Denmark because they care about seniors and social welfare is a priority. Maybe that’s why they are listed as the happiest country in the world consistently.