Fighting to keep a Waterbury nursing home open. On Tuesday, residents and workers demanded the state to consider keeping Abbott Terrace open with a new operator. This comes after the nursing home lost federal funding due to issues with the facility.
“I would stop every day, spend a few hours there and I got to know everybody in there, too,” Paul Sciortino, whose sister lived at Abbott Terrace, said.
Abbott Terrace in Waterbury was like a second home for Sciortino The nursing home was where his diabetic sister lived for two years while getting the care she needed.
“She was able to do things every day. They had a structured environment for her and they really did a good job with her,” he said.
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But that all changed when Abbott Terrace lost its federal funding after the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) found that the facility didn’t meet safety requirements. This meant Abbott Terrace would have to close. Sciortino says his sister was moved to a different nursing home in Bristol, but says visiting her is difficult.
“I can’t go see her as often as I’d like to because it’s such a far ride and I live on a fixed income. I get my pension and social security,” he said.
SEIU 199 NE, which represents workers at Abbott Terrace says one possible solution is getting a different operator or buyer for the facility to keep it open and save about 300 jobs and 200 beds.
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“We have a pathway. We have a plan. We have trusted operators who can run this nursing home,” Stephanie Deceus, Connecticut vice president for SEIU 1199 NE, said.
DPH in a statement says it hasn’t received any applications for change of ownership at this time. It also referred to regulations that say anyone looking to purchase an existing nursing home must submit a letter of intent to DPH at least 90 days before the ownership transfer. For now, the people at Abbott Terrace are hoping something will happen.
“I pray to God every day that we will keep Abbott open,” Rosa Maldonado, a worker at Abbott Terrace, said.
If no action is taken by the state, Abbott Terrace is set to close for good in November.
