A Green Valley assisted living facility will close its doors next month amid a staffing crunch.
In a letter dated May 12, administrators of Green Valley Quality Assisted Living – formerly known as Beehive Homes of Green Valley – informed residents that the facility would end operations June 12.
Owners say the closure largely stems from a shortage of trained caregivers.
“Over the past three years we have fought with the daily battle of Covid and other viruses, shortages from every supply chain, from food, supplies and so forth," a letter obtained by the Green Valley News said. "Of all these obstacles that we had to overcome, the one that has been the very most difficult to deal with each hour of every day, 24/7, is to maintain a quality trained staff."
The facility’s current owners, the letter continued, are also “in their mid-seventies themselves and not in good health,” and were unable to “fill the vacuum of trained and licensed caregivers.”
“After long and prayerful consideration, the ownership has made the decision to sell the business to a national corporation that will be slowly converting the facility to a Rehabilitation Facility,” the letter said. It’s unclear what kind of rehabilitation facility that would be, or when it might open.
A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services said as of Thursday the agency hadn’t received a required 30-day notice of closure from the facility. But Miranda Lange, a compliance officer with AZDHS, said it’s not uncommon for the department to receive little notice that an assisted living facility will be closing.
“We have had a few facilities that have closed and nothing has been done (to notify the department). We’ve accepted their closure, and they usually mail in the license and send us the address where the medical and personal records will be stored,” Lange said.
The Green Valley News left multiple messages with Dottie Green, who’s listed as the facility's point-of-contact with the AZDHS. Other efforts to contact representatives with MM&J Healthcare Services – the license holder of the facility – and other staff at the facility’s main office were unsuccessful.
Closures a trend
The facility joins a growing list of nursing homes being shuttered nationwide, especially in rural areas, as long-term care facilities struggle with the lingering effects of the pandemic. Many facilities saw business decline amid lockdowns and reports of COVID-19 outbreaks, while staff members faced extra danger and stress on the job.
“We’re always sad to see any of these assisted living facilities close their doors because there certainly is a demand for that level of care,” said Mark Clark, president and CEO of Pima Council on Aging.
“But, we also know at this time it’s extremely difficult. All licensed adult care facilities are very challenging to operate and have been since Day One of the pandemic, and I would assume some of these facilities have also incurred some fairly significant degree of operating losses,” Clark said.
Year-end data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that over the course of the pandemic, nursing homes lost 210,000 jobs – one of the worst of any healthcare sector.
Further analysis by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) found that nursing home workforce levels haven't been this low since 1994.
Although providers are working to fill open positions, recruiting new staff and caregivers remains a major roadblock, with 96% of nursing homes experiencing difficulty in hiring, according to a recent survey of more than 500 nursing home providers from across the U.S.
And coupled with lingering financial struggles from the pandemic, these persistent staffing shortages have continued to affect care accessibility in some parts of the country.
Over half of nursing homes (54%) reported having to limit their new admissions, and hiring challenges caused two-thirds of nursing homes (67%) to worry they may have to close their doors, according to a fact sheet on the state of the nursing home sector from AHCA/NCAL.
There are now about 37,000 fewer beds available than in February 2020, and over the duration of the pandemic, over 465 facilities closed, displacing over 18,000 residents, according to AHCA/NCAL.
Finding a place
According to AZDHS, Green Valley Quality Assisted Living is licensed to care for 40 residents, but it’s unclear just how many will be displaced as a result of the closure.
Amy Malkin, chief operating officer of Pioneer Health Group in Green Valley, said she and other colleagues have heard from a handful of family members looking to relocate current residents to new homes.
But Malkin said it can be particularly hard to place certain types of patients, such as those who need extra attention because they have dementia or other special care needs.
“Memory care beds in Green Valley have been very hard to come by. I know Prestige Assisted Living and Canyon Valley Memory Care have memory care units and they have a waitlist, and we have a waitlist for our memory care units as well,” she said.
To those searching for new communities, Malkin’s advice is to “just keep trying,” and snag a spot on any waitlist you can.
Pima Council on Aging also offers resources through its online Resource Directory, including a list of all assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities in Pima County, placement agencies, and questions to ask when looking at relocating to a new living community.
Kathleen Jacobson, the long term care ombudsman at PCOA, also suggests families review recent surveys or citations for facilities, which can be found through AZDHS at AZCareCheck.com.