Residents of Peachtree Village in Holiday Island, the only Level One assisted living facility in Carroll County, were given a 30-day notice that they had to find other housing by the end of June. Tuesday, June 11, a number of residents were already being moved to Peachtree Village in Fort Smith.
“What’s the rush?” CJ Baucus, the daughter of 96-year-old resident Wanda Post, asked. “It was 30 days and now we got a 2.5-day notice that she had to agree to move to Peachtree Village in Fort Smith or possibly not get a room there. We have been trying to keep her calm.”
Baucus said she was disappointed that instead of a 30-minute drive to see and check on her mother, it will now be a 2.5-hour drive.
“The decision having to be made so quickly meant we didn’t have time to look for another place that was closer,” she said. “They were good to her here until about the past three of four months when they couldn’t keep help so people kept moving out. It would be lovely if someone would buy it and reopen the facility, but we can’t wait. If that does happen, we will move her back up here.”
Some residents were upset at having to leave a facility near family and friends.
Another woman said she was planning to move to Peachtree Village in Farmington but her daughter found her a place at Holiday Gardens at Arkanshire in Springdale. A second resident said she was planning to stay in Holiday Island and move into a condo that a friend purchased. And one other said, “We are all upset that they are moving us so quickly. We should have been given two months. But when Peachtree Village Farmington came up, I was ready to go. The employees from Farmington handled it well. I was very pleased.”
Resident James Craig said he has no complaints. He has been happy with Peachtree Village in Holiday Island and will be leaving next week for Olive Court in Mount Vernon, Missouri. A friend sitting next to him at lunch said he hadn’t been able to find another place yet.
Carol Beavers Post, who moved to Peachtree only April 15, said in an interview a week earlier that she didn’t mind leaving because she doesn’t like the facility. On June 11, she said she was told she wasn’t going to be allowed to leave because she owed money. Post disputed that she owed the money and was hopeful the financial issues would get straightened out.
“The only thing Peachtree Village is doing is making my blood pressure go up,” Post said. “And I don’t usually have high blood pressure. It’s just a mess. I am not going to another Peachtree place. I’m looking at the Rose House in Missouri when they let me leave.”
Another resident who was encountered with her two small dogs in a hallway to her apartment said, “What are they going to do to me for letting them run loose? Throw me out?”
Megan Skelton, acting administrator of Peachtree Village, denied that the 26 residents of Peachtree Holiday Island have been unduly rushed. She said there were only so many rooms available at Peachtree Farmington and Fort Smith, so it was important for people to act quickly if they wanted to go to those facilities. Skelton said it was also necessary to be efficient reserving a U-Haul to move residents belongings to Fort Smith on the same day.
Skelton said she hoped that Peachtree Village would attract a buyer who would either reopen it as assisted living or as affordable housing. She had heard there are several people interested in buying the facility.
“I know a lot of the residents want to stay in Carroll County and at this level of assisted living,” Skelton said.
Assisted living Level One is quite a bit less expensive than assisted Living Two or nursing homes. The facility, open for about 20 years, has 51 apartments in addition to common rooms for exercise, a cafeteria, a church meeting space, offices and a foyer.
Residents of assisted living facilities have fewer rights than most people who rent apartments with a yearly lease. The state only requires a 30-day notice.
“They are required to give at least a 30-day notice of closure,” Gavin Lesnick, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Human Service, said. “Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance staff are meeting with residents one-on-one and will determine if there is any assistance available that could help with the transition to a new facility. Assisted living facilities play a critical role in our state to provide housing and care for Arkansans who are elderly and who have disabilities, and DHS is committed to ensuring that these residents continue to receive high-quality care and services.”