Dare nursing home may close

A dispute between Nags Head and Britthaven/Colony Ridge Rehabilitation Center may lead to the closing of that facility,at least for a time. It is the only nursing home that can accept fully incapacitated patients in Dare County. The town has not been satisfied with the way the nursing home has maintained the facility for some time, and this has led to the current stand-off

Nags Head commissioners met Tuesday afternoon to consider a proposed lease for the facility. According to Nags Head Mayor Bob Oakes, the lease was presented to the town by the nursing home, and at Tuesday’s meeting, the town proposed several conditions, including a condition that the proposed $1.5 million to be spent on refurbishing the facility be done within 18 months and that improvements be made to facilitate quality of care. The town proposes to essentially charge Britthaven/Colony Ridge no rent ($10 per month).

The negotiations have gone on for some months now, and one of the sticking points, and perhaps the thorniest one, is ownership of the certificate of need (CON) which either entity must own to operate the facility. Both the town and the nursing home corporation claim the CON, and they are in litigation over this issue. A recent hearing appeared to favor the town, but no final ruling was entered. Oakes said it appeared to him that if the town owns the property (which it does) and the furnishings of the facility, then it owns the CON, but litigation over it will still take quite a bit of time. The town has proposed to essentially charge Britthaven/Colony Ridge no rent ($10 per month) if they accept the other conditions of the lease.

The nursing home was developed some 30 years ago as a partnership between the town and another company which later sold its interest to what was then Britthaven. This company has recently changed its name to Colony Ridge. The town bought and maintains ownership of the property, and backed the bonds to build the facility. The nursing home management was to maintain the building.

If it intends to vacate the facility, the nursing home has to give patients 90 days notice. Patients and their families have been anxiously awaiting word on the lease.

“I’m not encouraged that they will actually accept it,” Oakes said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “It looks like there will be a break in continuity.” He said the lease has been sent back to the nursing home management, and he spoke to Randy Uzzell, president of the corporation, who told him he has sent notice to the proper parties that the group plans to vacate the facility Oct. 1. The town wants to maintain continuity of service, but if Britthaven/Colony Ridge does not accept the conditions put on the lease Tuesday, the patients will have to move to another facility outside of Dare County. The closest one is in Currituck County. The town has been in talks with other interested groups, but little can be done until the CON issue is determined.

While the town and nursing home management are at odds and time is running out, the patients are the ones losing. Theresa Reddy, a beach resident, spends nearly every day with her husband who is a patient at the home. She says she believes her husband is getting good care and that the facility should be improved but not closed down. “I think it should stay. It’s not that bad,” she said. Reddy said if the facility is closed down, she will have to sell her house and move her husband to a facility nearer her children. She puts the blame for the situation on Nags Head, saying that the town has known about the impending end of the lease for years and should have had something in place for the residents by now.