Published: 8/14/2012

Aid offered to residents of care home

BLADE STAFF

Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) is offering assistance to relocate residents from a Toledo nursing home the state has threatened to close.

State officials last week notified the Liberty Nursing Home, 2005 Ashland Ave., of plans to revoke its license because staff failed to prevent and respond to patient abuse, including a sexual assault last month. According an Ohio Department of Health complaint, Liberty's history of regulatory noncompliance dates to at least 2009.

Residents have the right to choose where they will be transferred, according to ABLE, an advocacy group that helps low-income people with legal issues.

"We make sure people understand what their rights are," said Stacey Premo, director of ABLE's long-term-care ombudsman program.

Liberty must give proper notice to residents regarding a transfer, discharge, or a relocation, including options available to them so they can choose where they want to go. For more information about long-term care, contact ABLE's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at 419-259-2891.

The health department's notice to Liberty, issued Thursday, stated that, barring a substantive change in care quality, the facility's license will be revoked Sunday.

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