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October 8, 2024

Athena Health Care laying off all 209 employees at Abbott Terrace nursing home in Waterbury

Cloe Poisson / CTMirror.org Abbott Terrace Health Center in Waterbury.

Two weeks after being terminated from participating in Medicare and Medicaid, the owner of Abbott Terrace Health Center in Waterbury sent a letter to the state and city announcing plans to lay off all 209 members of the nursing home’s staff.

The Sept. 24 letter from Larry Santilli, president and CEO of Abbott Terrace owner Athena Health Care Systems in Farmington, states that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) notified the company on Sept. 10 that it was terminating Abbott Terrace’s participation in the federal reimbursement programs, effective Nov. 8.

“Since the vast majority of our patients are insured by Medicare or Medicaid, this means that Abbott Terrace will be unable to operate” past Nov. 8, Santilli states. The nursing home is licensed for 205 beds and had 166 residents at the time of the notice.

As a result, he continued, “we are being forced to close Abbott Terrace and layoff all Abbott Terrace employees on November 8, 2024, unless they are offered and accept a role at another facility within the Athena Health Care System.” 

While Santilli’s letter states that Abbott Terrace employs 209 people, Savannah Ragali, a spokeswoman for Athena Health Care Systems, recently stated that the nursing home employs 287 workers, “including 11 team members who have been with us for 30 to 38 years.” 

Santilli’s letter does not explain the discrepancy.

Santilli notes in the letter that “some of the employees” of Abbott Terrace recently chose the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU, “as their labor representative.” He said the selection is “pending final approval from the National Labor Relations Board and added that “we will commence negotiating in a collective bargaining agreement shortly.”

Athena owns 14 nursing homes in Connecticut, including Abbott Terrace.

Santillii also apologized to the state and city on behalf of Athena Health for being unable to provide “more advance notice of this action.” He states that as recently as Sept. 23 “we had been working with CMS and the Connecticut Department of Public Health to remedy all issues that they raised with our facility and to bring the facility into compliance.” 

He continued, “CMS’s termination of our participation in Medicare and Medicaid is an unprecedented step and caught us off guard. Therefore, we are sending this notice to you as soon as is reasonably possible.”

Last week, the CT Mirror reported that CMS had notified Abbott Terrace in August that it would lose funding beginning Sept. 10 for any new patients and within 30 days for all residents.

Abbott Terrace subsequently was issued a new termination date of Oct. 9, CT Mirror reported, adding that Ragali said the facility now plans to move all of its 166 residents out of the building by Nov. 8.

The state Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s office is helping residents find alternative facilities and aiding in their transition.
 

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