SOUTH HADLEY â A week after a group of nurses stood outside in blistering heat to call attention to the working conditions at the Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center off Route 202, the two state politicians who represent the town are calling on the state to formally investigate conditions at the 132-bed nursing home.
âThe residents and staff at the South Hadley nursing home deserve better,â said Sen. Jake Oliveira, D-Belchertown, in a statement released on Monday.
In that statement, Oliveira and state Rep. Dan Carey, D-Easthampton, outlined areas of âsevere concernâ at the facility, including unpaid wages, deteriorating and unsanitary working and living conditions, and financial mismanagement by Blupoint Healthcare, the Newton-based company that bought the facility at 573 Granby Road in February.
Additionally, Blupoint owes the town of South Hadley over $200,000 in real estate fees, trash and sewer bills, and interest on these charges, according to Town Administrator Lisa Wong. The amount does not include unpaid electric and water service bills from South Hadley Electric Light and Water District 1, she said.
Oliveira and Carey issued a joint letter calling on Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Kate Walsh, secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, to launch an official investigation and âhold those responsible accountable.â
âThis is a terrible situation for the residents, their family members, and the entire staff,â Carey said. âEveryone deserves better. I will continue to work to hold those at fault accountable and to bring dignity and respect back to those who so deserve it.â
The Gazette made several attempts to reach out to Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center and Blupoint Healthcare, but was unsuccessful in reaching them.
The politicians took their cue from nurses, who a week ago stood on the busy road in front of the Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center holding signs detailing their working conditions and financial strains over the past five months: âOne CNA for 24 patients,â âBurnt out staff,â âNo more delayed pay,â âVendors donât want us.â
Staff members at the nursing home claim they have not received pay in the past four weeks due to bounced checks, and problems with delayed pay have continued for five months.
âTheyâre crying, every payday theyâre in there crying because they donât know when they are going to receive that money. Some of the (certified nursing assistants) are crying to me about how they donât even know how they will be able to get to work tomorrow because they donât have money for gas,â said Christine Maclure, a nurse at the center, in a telephone interview Monday.
Maclure said that nurses and nursing aides requesting cleaning supplies, hygiene products and medications have discovered that orders havenât come in or vendors ceased business with the facility due to lack of payment.
âOne day, I came into work at three oâclock, and I was told there were no diabetes strips in the building and we wouldnât be able to take afternoon blood sugars,â Maclure said. âTheyâre putting the patients at risk and putting their licensure at risk. Thatâs neglect.â
Just to keep patients healthy and the lights on, staff members have spent money from their own pockets to pay for food, supplies and utility bills. Maclure said employees drove to CVS to purchase diabetes strips and glucose meters to take blood sugars the day the nursing home was out, while the director of nursing used her own credit card to buy food for patients and another administrator paid an electric bill just to keeps the lights on.
âThe work ethic there is so poor. Some nurses and I are buying supper for our (certified nursing assistants) and showing how thankful we are for them for working their butts off and staying there with us,â Maclure said. âWeâre using our own money out of our pockets to raise morale, but not management. Theyâre doing nothing.â
Nursing home employees have submitted their own complaints to the attorney generalâs office, and Maclure has been told there is an open investigation into the facility and its owner.
While employees claim to have dealt with pay delayed for up to 13 days since Blupoint took over, checks have been bouncing during the past four weeks, leaving the staff with no income at all. Maclure said when her check from June 28 finally cashed last Wednesday, she discovered the next morning the check had been pulled from her account.
âThe state stepped in to get emergency funds and pay us for the last two weeks of service,â she said. âI received direct deposit for the first time in I donât know how many months.â
Data from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation has racked up federal fines totaling $338,238 in the last three years, the third highest total for any nursing home in western Massachusetts.
Before Blupoint bought the nursing home in February and changed its name to Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation, it had been known as Vantage for about a year.
Before that, the facility was known as Wingate at South Hadley. Six months ago, Pioneer Valley Health told the Gazette the facility employed 150 workers.
Maclure said staff at the nursing home is getting support from the community. According to her Facebook page, Massachusetts state troopers, local business Bob the Bike Man, family members of patients and community members have donated medical supplies and goods to support staff and keep patients healthy.
âNow that community members and state officials are saying, âHey weâre stepping in and weâre going to hold this company accountable,â it feels amazing â weâre seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,â Maclure said.
Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.
