Florence Health Care closure brings changes
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
The 55 residents at Florence Health Care have had to find new homes as a result of the recent closure of the facility. Some of them have been transferred to other homes in Marion County which provide skilled nursing care, while others have gone elsewhere.
The closure has meant not only a change for the residents but for the 44 employees as well.
Maggie Teufel, regional director of operations, is overseeing the closure. She said HealthPrime, the corporation which managed the facility, offered benefit transfers to those employees who went directly to work at another facility.
The decision to close the facility was "difficult and painful," Teufel said.
She noted that 95 percent of residents were on Medicaid and reimbursement for care was far below the actual cost of operations. She said Medicaid paid for time spent in physical care but not for anything else.
Teufal said the staff and administrators did an excellent job but increasing costs of liability insurance, personal property insurance, taxes, and overhead expenses made it impossible to continue.
"It was strictly a business decision," Teufel emphasized. "Some employees have been here 20 years and did a wonderful job."
Teufal was administrator at Florence Health Care for 18 years before taking her current job two and one-half years ago. Her last day at the facility was Tuesday.
Her voice breaking, she said, "I've only had to do one thing harder than this, and I'm not a young woman." According to Teufal, administrator Bonita Boydston will remain at the facility a while longer.
