MOORHEAD (KFGO) – Families of residents at Moorhead Restorative Care are struggling to find homes for their loved ones after the long-term and rehabilitation facility announced they will close June 20.
Moorhead Restorative Care, also known as Moorhead Rehab, made the announcement to families via phone message Tuesday after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid notified the facility they are no longer authorized to receive payment for services.
Jen Finch’s mother is one of about 30 residents at Moorhead Rehab and was admitted there Apr. 14.
Representatives for Moorhead Rehab told Finch the federal government has revoked their license to provide skilled nursing care.
Finch’s mother is scheduled to have a hip replacement next month and will need assistance for the foreseeable future. She said finding a place for her mother was a struggle.
“We had been trying to find a place for my mom to go as far back as March and April, and there was no place that would take her insurance from here to Minneapolis,” Finch said. “Moorhead rehab is the only place and now we don’t know where she’s going to go.”
Moorhead Rehab told families they would help them find options for their relatives, but Finch said her family hasn’t been presented any so far.
Finding a place isn’t the only concern Finch and her family have. With Moorhead Rehab being the only place they could find for her mother in the Fargo-Moorhead area just a few months ago, they also worry about how far away her mother will be once they do find a spot for her.
“I wouldn’t be able to pop over and visit her for lunch on my lunch hour. It wouldn’t be as easy to stop and have supper with her,” Finch said. “Right now, it’s a five to 10 minute drive from work and home for me.”
The announcement of the closure comes after years of written deficiencies for Moorhead Rehab. Those include 10 instances of Immediate Jeopardy findings and 34 instances of Actual Harm findings between 2011 and 2022.
According to the Department of Health & Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, during a survey conducted on Apr. 8, 2022, inspectors found a case where a resident died after, “the facility failed to provide basic life support, including CPR in accordance with resident wishes and physician orders for full code status of CPR to one of three residents reviewed for CPR.”
Alan Markowitz has owned Moorhead Rehab for about two years. Markowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
Finch said Moorhead Rehab plans to appeal the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s decision.
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