TRANS HEALTHCARE Union has concerns about facilities

The nursing home company seems to need more staff, a state official says.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- A union is questioning the quality of care given at area nursing homes operated by a Pennsylvania company.
Service Employees International Union was to have a press conference today outside Greenbriar Healthcare Center, 8064 South Ave., to talk about care provided there and at other homes operated by Trans Healthcare Inc. of Camp Hill, Pa.
Kathy Carr, a union spokeswoman, said an SEIU study found that staffing goes down and violations of state regulations go up after Trans Healthcare takes over a nursing home.
The union, which represents workers at some of Trans Healthcare's local homes, is raising its concerns because it said the company has just acquired more area nursing homes.
State Rep. Kenneth Carano of Austintown, who was to speak at the press conference, said he is concerned by the study because it appears that Trans Healthcare doesn't have enough staff at its area nursing homes.
Carano, D-59th, said that he wasn't trying to condemn Trans Healthcare but that he wants the company to know the quality of care provided in this area is important.
Officials at Trans Healthcare and Greenbriar couldn't be reached Monday.
Other homes
The company also operates the Commons at Greenbriar, an assisted-living facility, and the Greenbriar Hospital for Special Services, both of which are adjacent to the nursing home, and the Cortland Center in Cortland.
The Ohio Department of Health lists the three Greenbriar facilities and Cortland home as having more violations in their last inspections that the average home, but it doesn't list them among those providing substandard care. The state works with homes after its inspections to correct any violations.
The union said Trans Healthcare acquired six area nursing homes this month from Integrated Health Services of Maryland. All six are listed as Trans Healthcare homes on its Web site.
They are four Warren-area nursing homes, Horizon Village Nursing and Rehabilitation, Imperial Skilled Care Center, Ridge Crest Care Center and Washington Square Health Care Center; Boardman Community Care Center in Boardman; and Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Liberty.
Colonial Manor was closed last month after sustaining heavy flood damage. Integrated Health Services said it was going to transfer some of the home's 85 workers and lay off others. The company said it intended to repair the damage and reopen the home.
Concerned
John Saulitis, director of a nursing home ombudsman program run through the District XI Agency on Aging, said he is concerned by the union report that violations increase under Trans Healthcare.
The state says the former Integrated Health Care homes in the area already have had more citations than average. Combine this with problems that can develop when new administration arrives at a home and there is the potential for more problems, said Saulitis, who also was to speak at the press conference.
He said the number of complaints his office has handled at the Greenbriar recently has increased.
He said that his staff tries to work out complaints for members of the public but that he has been frustrated in working with Trans Healthcare. He said the company hasn't provided a clear way to work out issues that his office raises.
Trans Healthcare was founded in 1998 and has expanded rapidly. It has gone from 23 facilities in 1999 to more than 200.
shilling@vindy.com