Rockmart Nursing Home Closes Suddenly

ROCKMART, Ga. - Residents of a Rockmart nursing home were forced out of their home and given less than a 12-hour notice telling them the facility is closing. Many of the residents are worried and afraid as the state and the community is trying to do what they can to help.

Staff at the Rockmart Nursing and Rehab Facility said it started going downhill back in June after New Beginnings Care, LLC took control.

At the beginning of this month, residents learned the facility would close, but they were told they had 30 days to relocate. That changed late Tuesday night when residents were informed they needed to be out by midafternoon.

"My mother's been here three years and she's scared to death. She can't do anything for herself," said Serena Solman.

Solman is just one of many families who found themselves out here in the cold, packing up their loved ones; just hours after finding out the facility set a new deadline.

"Mama was crying last night. She said this is my last night in my home. She said I’m going to go somewhere different. They're old and they don't understand," said Solman.

Shannon Tapley doesn't have family living here, but when he heard what was going on he came over to help.

"There's no reason these people should be going through this, what so ever," said Tapley.

On Jan. 8, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified the facility that it would be terminated from the Medicaid and Medicare programs because the facility wasn't passing inspections. The facility was set to close Feb. 7.

"We immediately, upon receiving that notice assembled an inner agency relocation team," said Melanie Simon.

Simon is the Executive Director for the Division of Healthcare Facility Regulation. She said the state was working with the residents to relocate them, but late last night, she learned an emergency relocation had been issued because the facility couldn't pay its staff.

"We were immediately concerned that the staff might not be able to stay at facility, residents could be in jeopardy, so that’s why we're here today. We're monitoring the situations. We are moving as many residents as possible," said Simon.

Several residents, like Simon’s mother, already had a place lined up. She said those places are now scrambling trying to get rooms available two weeks early. Simon said she's grateful, but will miss the staff she knows and loves.

"This staff out here treats her like she's there mother, there family, and now all of this. They're just going to have to be uprooted," said Simon.

NewsRadio 106.7's Christy Hutchings reached out to New Beginnings Care, LLC to get their side of the story, but did not get a response Wednesday.