ST. LOUIS – Nearly three weeks after the sudden closure of a St. Louis nursing home, a former resident remains missing.
Advocates for the elderly in St. Louis confirm a missing person report has been filed with police but did not release that individual’s name.
Reversed hinges have now been bolted over the entrance doors to the building at Kingshighway and Highland in north St. Louis.
There is a new glimmer of hope for the rest of those who called Northview Village home.
Thirty-two newly-trained case workers are fanning out to check on former residents who were put out of the home on Dec. 15, 2023, with little or no warning and without their belongings or medical records in a still-unknown number of cases.
The City of St. Louis’s Department of Human Services hosted a training session for the caseworkers on Tuesday to help those former residents who’ve ended up with other homes in the city.
“To find out how they’re doing, to figure out if they’ve lost anything in the move,” Adam Pearson, director of the Department of Human Services for the City of St. Louis, said. “As a number of people have heard, some individuals left the facility without anything but the clothes on their backs.”
They also arrived at other nursing homes without records of their medical needs or medications.
A staff of nearly 170 was also put out of work. The St. Louis City Senior Fund confirms there were at least 175 residents at Northview Village when the owner, Healthcare Accounting Services, LLC, with a business office listed in Brentwood, closed the home.
One hundred sixty-two of those former residents are now at other area nursing homes, 10 are in area hospitals, 2 are now living with family members, and 1 is missing, according to the Senior Fund and VOYCE, which fills an ombudsman role for long-term care in St. Louis.
The Senior Fund, which receives funding from city taxpayers, has up to $174,000 to assist former residents with basic needs.
“Such as toiletries, clothing, pillows, bed sheets, that sort of thing,” Pearson said. “This was obviously a crisis that happened overnight. There wasn’t really any notice given. Our role was to spring into action as quickly as we could to respond the best we could to meet those folks’ needs.”
The fund’s Executive Director, Jamie Opsal, wonders how Healthcare Accounting Services can be allowed to continue operating two other homes in St. Louis.
The State of Missouri is now investigating the company and its sudden closure of Northview Village.
Spokeswoman Lisa Cox told FOX 2:
“According to the operator (of the home), payroll was made on Dec. 22 for staff covering hours worked up to Dec. 9. Employees are expected to receive payment for hours worked in the final week later this month…we cannot provide comment on our active investigation.”
