BRENTWOOD, Mo. — Congresswoman Cori Bush sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccera urging the department to launch a formal investigation into the long-term care facility Northview Village.
This is after the largest nursing home facility in St. Louis suddenly shut its doors on Dec. 15, leaving 184 employees without a job and forcing 170 residents to move.
The letter talked about closure concerns possibly violating the federal WARN Act and federal Social Security Act laws on the transfer and discharge of facility residents.
Bush is urging the department to look into finances, provision of care and use of Medicaid and Medicare funds at Northview Village.
The request also asked the department to investigate allegations that the State of Missouri failed to adequately protect residents in these long-term facilities.
"The state has consistently failed to adequately fund inspections and patient advocacy infrastructure that is necessary to prevent tragedies from happening in long-term facilities across the state," Bush said. "Reporting indicates that out of 510 nursing homes in Missouri, 126 have not been inspected in over two years. That's one in five nursing homes not properly inspected for health safety. If these allegations are true, the state of Missouri needs to be held accountable too."
Monday morning, Bush joined Northview Village workers, who rallied in front of Healthcare Accounting Services, which is one of the owners.
According to Bush's letter, Healthcare Accounting Services is a company with several out-of-state owners that manage multiple long-term care facilities in the St. Louis area.
"Northview is a part of Healthcare Accounting Services and under the umbrella of ownership of Mr. Mark Suissa, this particular facility is also owned by other partners," according to an internal memo obtained by 5 On Your Side.
Chanting outside, former Northview Village worker Carolyn Hawthorne had this message.
"What is owed is humanity. What is owed is dignity. What is owed is respect. What is owed is our money!" Hawthorne said. "This is the show me state. Show me our money! They have failed to pay healthcare premiums on the workers, they have failed to pay paid time off."
Hawthorne said she worked there for 11 years and was supposed to get their last paycheck on Dec. 29. Now she said they're being told the new date is Jan. 15.
"Constant lies and deceit going on," Hawthorne said.
At the news conference, Vice President and Missouri State Director of SEIU Healthcare Lenny Jones told reporters they learned Healthcare Accounting Services had everything lined up for pay, but were told the owner didn't send in the money.
"We have never had this experience in the state to our knowledge that something like this has happened," Jones said.
Beyond the probe, workers are also filing a class action lawsuit for a WARN Act violation, which gives workers a 60-day notice.
Hawthorne is a part of that lawsuit and said she couldn't comment due to pending litigation.
Last week, more than 30 caseworkers from St. Louis nonprofit organizations met with former residents of Northview Village.
VOYCE, a nonprofit educating and empowering individuals for quality living across the continuum of long-term care, said the St. Louis City Senior Fund and Saint Louis Mental Health Board have dedicated funding to purchase new clothing and other personal items for these residents.
A St. Louis City spokesperson also shared more efforts:
- SLATE hosted two emergency job fairs to support the displaced workers.
- The St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAAA), which is a division under the Department of Human Services, coordinated social and outreach workers from throughout their network to do outreach to Northview residents in their new locations. They checked in with them, figured out their needs, and went shopping for essentials for them.
Shortly after the closure, officials and organizers formed a fund for impacted workers.
The group created a 'Northview Village Displaced Workers Fund', which is held at the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri will not take an administrative fee to administer the fund.
The donors will receive a tax acknowledgment from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.
To donate, click here.
5 On Your Side reached out to the owners and the state's health department and have not received responses.
According to St. Louis police, there is a former resident of Northview Village who was last seen walking away from the facility on the day it closed.
Police said 61-year-old Frederick Caruthers has schizophrenia and is without needed medication.
Anyone with information can call a detective at 314-444-5738.