Two St. Paul Nursing Homes to Close, Displacing More than 180 Residents

Cerenity Senior Care, a non-profit group based in St. Paul, Minn., recently announced that it’s closing two of its east metro nursing homes, Cerenity Care Center on Dellwood Place, and Cerenity Care Center-Bethesda, reports Pioneer Press.

The two nursing homes will close by Nov. 11, affecting about 187 residents and more than 300 workers.

“The primary decision really focuses on the overwhelming need for capital expenditures,” Chuck Heidbrink, the president of Cerenity Senior Care, said in an interview with Pioneer Press. “These buildings are old, and they’ve lived a good life—they’ve served people well. But at this point, they’re just not able to manage the capital demands.”

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Many of Cerenity Care’s residents relied on Medical Assistance to pay their bills, and budget cuts to the program contributed to closing the facilities, said Heidbrink, although they weren’t the sole factor.

The closings are the most recent in a series of similar occurrences in the same area from the past four years. Last November, St. Paul-based Franciscan Health Community announced its plans to close its St. Mary’s Home, affecting about 70 residents and 150 employees. Good Samaritan nursing home closed in 2009, and another, the Good Shepherd Care Center, closed the previous year.

What’s happening is that nursing homes are competing against assisted living facilities, which are increasingly attracting residents who formerly might have gone to nursing homes, Heidbrink told Pioneer Press. Additionally, the region’s population of those most likely to need nursing home care is expected to keep shrinking for another 10 years, he said.

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When that demographic begins to grow again, operators will have found other ways to care for seniors besides nursing homes, Heidbrink predicted.

As for Cerenity Senior Care’s residents, the centers will work with state and local agencies to find them new homes. Workers can receive transition assistance and job placement services through the state, said the group.

Despite the closing of two of its facilities, Cerenity Senior Care will continue to operate an assisted living and memory care facility, Cerenity Residence, in South St. Paul, in addition to owning and operating three larger communities: Cerenity Senior Care-White Bear Lake; Cerenity Senior Care-Marian of St. Paul; and Cerenity Senior Care-Humboldt.

Read the Pioneer Press article here.

Written by Alyssa Gerace