New management assigned to Rochester nursing home after numerous complaints

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Waterview Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in the city’s Charlotte area has hired a new, temporary management team that will start next week following hundreds of complaints and numerous failed inspections.

The facility on Beach Avenue is now under new management due to what state Assemblymember Sarah Clark describes as “egregious deficiencies” that were not addressed.

Shary Savry, whose brother was a Waterview resident, expressed relief over the state’s intervention.

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“It was pretty bad,” she said. “When my brother was in there, I would go in and find him not even dressed. He’d have a diaper on. He’d be soiled, and I would have to be the one to go in and clean him up.”

Savry’s brother has since been relocated to a facility an hour and a half away.

Local lawmakers, including Clark and fellow Assemblymember Josh Jensen, have been vocal about the need for change.

Clark, a Democrat, highlighted the severity of the situation.

“In May they failed, another report, another inspection, and it put a 60-day halt on admissions,” she said. “And it was egregious enough, there were what they call immediate jeopardy in multiple occasions for residents.”

Jensen, a Republican, emphasized the bipartisan effort to improve care.

“This was a time for ensuring that we were advocating for our community,” he said, “and making sure that the Department of Health rightfully knew that we were concerned on behalf of our constituents and on behalf of the community.”

“I would say these are very good steps,” Clark added. “This means that this is escalating rapidly, and DOH (Department of Health) and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) are taking this seriously enough to say, we’ve given you enough time to try to fix this yourself, and you haven’t done it. And we’re stepping in.”

Savry remains cautiously optimistic about the changes.

“I know he’s not there, but other people are,” she said. “What I saw firsthand was just, nobody should have to live like that, especially people who are incoherent, can’t walk, can’t talk. It was just absolutely disgusting. So, with new management being in there, I’m cautiously optimistic.”

The vice president of Grand Healthcare System, which owns Waterview Heights, told 13WHAM Wednesday that a lot of the violations have been corrected since the inspection, and claims the facility is now in compliance.