A group of Wisconsin nursing homes that were put into court-ordered receivership due to financial distress will soon be taken over by a new operator.
Attorney Michael Polsky, the receiver appointed to oversee the transition, said he has identified a new management company with “substantial experience dealing with issues affecting the Bedrock facilities.”
The four nursing homes — Silver Springs Health Care Center in Glendale, Heritage Square Health Care Center in Greenfield, Riverdale Health Care Center in Muscoda and Fort Atkinson Health Care Center — were formerly managed by Bedrock Healthcare.
In addition to amassing millions of dollars in debt, the four facilities also racked up nearly 384 violations for health and safety deficiencies in the last three years.
Although Polsky declined to name the company that will take over the homes, he said representatives have visited the four sites on a regular basis. Once an agreement has been finalized, the court will move to approve the transfer of operations, Polsky said.
Polsky has acted as the receiver for numerous nursing homes in the last decade, including 32 long-term care facilities previously managed by Atrium Health and Senior Living and 65 long-term care sites previously managed by Fortis Management Holdings.
However, quality of the care, at least at Silver Springs Health Care Center, remains the top concern for resident Lettie Burks.
Burks staged a small protest Aug. 15 outside the facility to draw attention to what she described as sweltering temperatures, supply shortages, understaffing and neglect.
Burks said Bedrock, which owns six other nursing homes across the country, including three in Wisconsin, should still be held accountable.
“Just because they’re gone doesn’t mean the damage is done,” said Burks, 49, who has been at Silver Springs for the last three years.
Robert Fisher, CEO of Silver Springs, did not respond to an email seeking comment about Burks’ complaints.
Polsky confirmed the receivership has funding in place to provide “all necessary care to the Bedrock residents” and the new operator will take over managing the facilities “as soon as possible.”
‘I can’t let this be my life,’ one resident said
Silver Springs resident Joanne Weintraub, 74, joined Burks’ protest.At the end of the nursing home driveway, the pair, along with Burks’ son, held up large posters that read “Nightmare on Silver Spring Drive,” “Stop nursing home abuse” and “End Bedrock’s madness 2025.”
Several passing cars honked in support, and one staff member arriving at the facility for a shift beeped twice before throwing a thumbs up in their direction.
Weintraub previously contacted the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in July with concerns about the lack of cleanliness and air conditioning in her room. For weeks, Weintraub said she had slept with her curtains drawn and sheets off the bed to ease the oppressive heat.
A visit to her room July 31 showed the thermostat read 80 degrees on a 70-degree day. On a typical summer day, the temperature climbs up to 90 degrees, she said.
Similar concerns have been raised at Silver Springs before. Health inspection reports from June 2024 found a resident with chronic respiratory failure had been living in dangerously hot conditions for two months. At the time of the visit, the thermometer in his room read 86 degrees, the report said.
Weintraub, who previously worked as a TV critic and feature writer with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said she feels more like a prisoner than a resident at the health care facility.
She is under a court-ordered guardianship, meaning she is not considered competent to make decisions about her living arrangements. She is under a court order to stay at Silver Springs for another 14 months.
“I’m hoping to find a lawyer, maybe a guardianship lawyer, who can help with this,” Weintraub said, tearing up. “I can’t let this be my life.”
In addition to sweltering temperatures, Burks and Weintraub both described residents having to sit in their own waste for hours at a time and becoming dehydrated as they waited for staff to refill their water.
Many residents can’t speak up for themselves, Burks added, a fact that has motivated her to raise her voice.
“I have come to realize that I have to stand up. I can’t let three more years of this nonsense go,” Burks said.
Bedrock leadership contends facilities deliver high-quality care
Over the last three years, the 10 homes managed by Bedrock in Wisconsin have averaged three “serious deficiencies” each, about triple the national average, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that regulates licensed nursing facilities.
In that same time period, state health inspectors cited the four Wisconsin facilities that are entering receivership for several serious violations, including one related to the death of a resident with a history of seizures in January and the alleged sexual assault of another last July, according to CMS data.
Of the citations, 282 were triggered by complaints and the rest were the result of standard health inspections.
When asked what responsibilities, if any, remain with Bedrock, Polsky said, “Bedrock remains responsible for anything that happened prior to my appointment as receiver.”
Benny Waknins, Bedrock’s director of operations, said the company could not discuss the findings from the inspection reports.
“While we strongly deny any allegations to the contrary, we are unable to comment on specific claims — particularly those that are unfounded or inaccurate — due to patient privacy laws and professional standards,” he said.
In response to the alleged sexual assault at one of its Wisconsin facilities, Waknins said the company is “deeply committed to delivering high-quality care and upholding the trust placed in us by our residents, their families and the communities we serve.”
Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com. Tamia Fowlkes is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at tfowlkes@gannett.com.
This story was updated to add a video.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Troubled Milwaukee-area nursing homes will have new operators soon, residents protest conditions
Reporting by Natalie Eilbert and Tamia Fowlkes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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