State pulls Tacoma nursing home's license

NURSING CARE: Avamere Bel Air facility on Tacoma's Pearl St. will close

MIKE ARCHBOLD AND SEAN ROBINSON; STAFF WRITERS | • Published March 13, 2010

Comments (0)

Nancy Tyson, a regional administrator for the state�s residential care services, said Avamere �has made it very clear they will continue to provide and work very diligently with the relocation.�

Tyson said the Bel Air staff members have had meetings with residents and their families. The nursing home had nearly 90 residents a month ago.

Avamere also owns Avamere Skilled Nursing and Avamere Heritage Rehabilitation, both in Tacoma; Avamere Georgian House in Lakewood; and Avamere Olympic Rehabilitation in Sequim. Unlike Bel Air, the four facilities haven�t been flagged for persistent problems. However, the Medicare Web site gives the other two Tacoma Avamere facilities one-star ratings.

Avamere voluntarily closed its Highlands Avamere facility in Tacoma last September; it also was a �special focus� for inspectors but its license was not revoked, Tyson said.

Complicating the current relocation is that Bel Air has a ventilator unit for residents who can�t breathe on their own; there were 16 residents in that unit as of Friday, Tyson said.

She said there are no other facilities with ventilator units in Washington that currently have slots available. She said the state is contracting with an agency to work with those patients until beds open.

Moore said Park Rose Care Center in Tacoma is opening a ventilator unit soon.

Federal reimbursement ends March 31 for Bel Air residents covered by Medicaid or Medicare, but Moore said Avamere has indicated it will continue to house residents after that date if needed.

<< Previous page