Assisted living facility residents transferred due to staffing concerns

UPDATE 9/22/22 @ 1:03 p.m.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A spokesperson with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources released the following information to WSAZ.com:

“The Office of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification (OHFLAC) was notified September 19, 2022, that two assisted living residences owned by Mr. and Mrs. Grayson were sold and were to close in December 2022. Mrs. Grayson informed OHFLAC that they will provide the required 30-day notice for closure to residents and families served by these facilities.

DHHR has learned that residents were being transferred to local hospitals yesterday (Wednesday, September 21, 2022) due to staff not showing up for work. Since the facilities didn’t have staff to provide care to residents, the Grayson’s made the decision to transfer them to local hospitals. DHHR is not involved in the transfer of patients. DHHR has offered assistance, if needed, and will continue to monitor this situation.”

UPDATE 9/21/22 @ 10 p.m.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - It was an emotional day for residents and employees at a couple assisted living facilities in Cabell and Wayne counties.

The owner of Grayson Assisted Living in Lavalette tells WSAZ the facility has been sold but had no further comment.

Several residents were loaded into ambulances Wednesday and taken away.

Lisa Caldwell is a residential aid at Grayson’s Caring Hands and Loving Hearts on Washington Avenue in Huntington. She says three of their residents were moved out.

“We’ve seen a lot of tears today,” Caldwell said. “We did a lot of hugging with them. It’s been a heartbreaking situation.”

She says employees got an email Tuesday from management saying the facility would be closing by late October.

“It was shock, crazy,” Caldwell said.

At the facility in Lavalette, residents could be seen being given long hugs before leaving.

Cabell County EMS director Gordon Merry says they were asked to help with the situation Wednesday, and they took four residents to the VA Hospital and another to Cabell Huntington Hospital.

“I just wish they’d given us more heads up, prepared us better for it,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell says it’s troubling to think she has to start looking for a new job, but she says at this moment she’s more concerned with what’s going to happen to the residents.

“I just hope wherever they’re going, they’ll be taken care of and treated well, knowing we here loved them,” she said.

Dawn Carnahan says her family was told Wednesday morning that her 97-year-old grandfather, who has dementia, was abruptly being moved out of the facility in Lavalette and taken to the VA Hospital.

“It’s really sad you’re going to treat the elderly like that,” Carnahan said. “It’s just appalling to me.”

She says she’s furious they haven’t gotten answers as to why this is happening.

“It’s just heart-wrenching to me,” she said. “It’s bad business. This is wrong.”

A spokesperson with St. Mary’s says they’ve received seven residents from those facilities, and they’re working with the DHHR and other care facilities to find appropriate placement. They say St. Mary’s is providing accommodations and caring for those residents until they can be placed in other care homes.

ORIGINAL STORY

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Several residents at two assisted living facilities in Wayne County and Cabell County were moved out of the facilities Wednesday via ambulance.

A woman who identified herself as the owner of Grayson Assisted Living in Lavalette, West Virginia tells WSAZ the facility has been sold, but she had no further comment.

At that location, a WSAZ crew saw a couple of patients being loaded into ambulances and driven away.

Three of the residents at Grayson’s Caring Hands and Loving Hearts Assisted Living in the 800 block of Washington Avenue were moved out Wednesday, according to an employee.

That employee says it has been heartbreaking finding out she’ll no longer be working with the residents she’s grown attached to. She says as difficult as it is knowing she’ll have to find another job, she says her primary concern is for the residents.

Cabell County EMS Director Gordon Merry said his agency transported four people to the VA hospital and another to Cabell Huntington Hospital on Wednesday.

We will have more on this developing story. Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.

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