Alpine City Council looks at nursing home closure
ALPINE In response to 29 nursing home residents discovering they had less than a month to find a new place to stay, Alpine City Council members voted Tuesday to double check the process.
Councilman Mike Davidson said that following a well-attended public comment period, the council voted to approve having City Attorney Rod Ponton inquire with regulatory agencies about the Alpine Valley Care Center’s abrupt closure.
Davidson said because it hadn’t been put on the agenda, the council decided to wait until its next meeting in February to establish a committee to work with Brewster County and the Big Bend Regional Hospital in finding a new place for seniors requiring care to live.
“Having a facility like this is important to us,” Davidson said.
But Davidson said the Alpine Valley Care Center was past the point where it could be re-opened.
The center stopped taking residents Jan. 9 and told its existing residents they had to move out in 30 days, giving a Feb. 9 deadline.
Open since 1991, the non-profit center had been losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past few years, according to its director.
Although the owners tried to sell the facility, it didn't have any takers, even after pursuing the Big Bend Memorial Hospital Board to make a bid.
Only two residents remain at the center, and none of the 38 employees will retain a job at another nursing home owned by the Missionary Baptist Foundation of America.
