FINDLAY, Ohio — Fourteen Findlay seniors were forced to move out of their assisted living arrangements after officials deemed the facility unlivable.
Fox Run Assisted Living owner Nick McDevitt said the Ohio Department of Health served the facility with an injunction to cease operations effective at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. But, on Friday, he said he learned the residents have until Monday to collect their belongings.
But residents thought they didn't have the weekend to move out, so many of them were already gone.
Eugene Kelsey, 92, has spent the last year moving everything he's collected over nine decades to Fox Run. Now, he has to move it all somewhere else in just three days.
"None of us wanted to move," Kelsey said. "To be honest with you I don't think one person that's living here had any desire to move out of here at all."
McDevitt said Kelsey and the 13 other seniors have no choice, though. According to ODH, based on legal proceedings Friday, Fox Run is no longer a licensed operating facility.
McDevitt said he just wanted more time to make it work.
"We love it here. Every time the state has come out to check on us everything has been unsubstantiated. We are following all the rules. We are compliant," he said. "The judge that granted the motion says you guys have been compliant for 18 months and this is still going on. Why is this still going on?"
McDevitt admitted there were problems. He said the COVID-19 pandemic hit the facility hard financially. And the power company cut the lights in the common areas Thursday.
He said the final straw was when the state told residents they no longer had to pay rent a few weeks ago, leaving residents like Kelsey to make a big change in what should be the golden years of their lives.
"I was able to find a place, and don't get me wrong I will enjoy it, but I will miss the people and the place here," Kelsey said.
ODH provided WTOL 11 with the following statement:
"The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has been monitoring Fox Run Assisted Living for the past year for lack of performance and fiscal responsibility.
As a result of the facility’s power being shut off yesterday, ODH sent a surveyor out to the site to ensure the safety of residents and assess the situation. Power is being temporarily restored in an effort to help facilitate the safe transfer of residents.
Based on legal proceedings today, Fox Run is no longer a licensed operating facility.
ODH is sending in a transition team to help assist with the transition of residents. Representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman – which operates within the Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) advocating for the rights of consumers of long-term care throughout Ohio – are on-hand to assist residents and attempt to find transfer locations that meet their needs and levels of care."