Wayne Delaware Manor Closes
Vowing to help re-locate residents and find new positions for employees as best they could, Wayne Memorial Health System officials announced Wayne Delaware Manor, the System’s personal care home in Beach Lake, would close July 31st, 2012.
“This was not an easy decision,” said Marion Swencki, RN, administrator of Wayne Memorial Long-Term Care. Swencki, Wayne Memorial Chief Executive Officer David Hoff and the hospital’s Human Resources Director Elizabeth McDonald visited the Manor to officially inform the staff on May 30th. The facility currently employs 16 fulltime and four part-time workers.
“You have been exemplary in your care, kindness and gentle outreach to our residents who call Wayne Delaware Manor home,” Swencki told the staff on site. She urged them to help the residents transition to their new lives. “Now, more than ever, your gentle touch is needed, front and center.”
Swencki notified the 21 residents in a separate visit the following day. Letters were also sent to the residents’ families. “It has been our joy and privilege to care for you,” she told them. “We treasure the many friendships we have made over the years.”
Wayne Memorial officials attributed the move to close the home to ongoing financial losses and the current economy. Since 1999, when Wayne Memorial bought the former Murray Tufts Garrett Manor and re-christened it Wayne Delaware, the facility has consistently operated at a loss, according to CEO Hoff.
“We tried very hard to make Wayne Delaware profitable or, at the very least, sell it to someone who would maintain it as a personal care home,” said Hoff. “Unfortunately, this did not happen. We regret having to pursue this course, but in the end it is in the best interests of all involved. It would have been difficult for us to sustain the level of care that we have offered for 13 years.”
As per state regulations, Wayne Memorial provided 60-day notice to the Department of Public Welfare by letter of its intent to voluntarily close the 29-bed home on the banks of the Delaware River.
Swencki offered the assistance of her staff, particularly two licensed social workers, to help residents find new homes where “they will be treated with the same kindness, consideration and compassion that our staff provided.”
Wayne Memorial Health System’s non-profit Long-Term Care arm operates Wayne Delaware Manor and Wayne Woodlands Manor, a 121-bed skilled nursing facility in Waymart. Neither Swencki nor Hoff expected Wayne Woodlands to be affected by the Wayne Delaware announcement, but both noted that today’s economic climate and increasingly stringent government regulations have contributed to difficulties for many long-term care facilities.
The decision to close Wayne Delaware Manor was ultimately made by the Board of Trustees of Wayne Memorial Long-Term Care. Chairman Wendell Hunt said, “It is with a certain sadness that this decision had to be made. It is regrettable, but in the present climate, we just couldn’t continue.”
Swencki and Hoff both emphasized how much Wayne Memorial would help staff and residents find new placements.
“We will do our absolute best,” said Swencki, “to facilitate a smooth transition for both employees and residents.”
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