Nonprofit Group Buys Valleycrest Lutherans To Reopen Troubled Nursing Home

Valleycrest, the troubled nursing home shuttered last year after federal support was cut off, has been sold to a nonprofit Christian organization for $2 million.

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., plans to reopen the building as a nursing home this spring. The society also operates another care center in the Valley.

Camilla Mounts, just named administrator of the new Good Samaritan center, said the organization isn’t worried about the building’s checkered past.

“We are going to give excellent care, and that’s that,” said Mounts, who transferred to Spokane from a Good Samaritan home she had run in West Virginia. “The building is fine. I think in a business like this, you prove by doing well.”

Valleycrest, 12715 E. Mission, was owned by for-profit Unicare Homes Inc. It lost its Medicare and Medicaid money last September after failing five inspections in seven months.

At the last inspection, federal and state regulators cited the home for providing poor care and failing to investigate abuse allegations. The home’s Medicare and Medicaid certification was pulled.

After the federal government cut off money, the home’s parent company vowed to fight the ruling.

But all 80 residents slowly were moved to other homes, some as far away as Coeur d’Alene. The last resident left Nov. 10.

Unicare, based in Milwaukee, appealed the government’s decision. It also started hunting for a buyer, contacting several companies including Good Samaritan, said Mike Mervis, Unicare spokesman.

Neither company wanted to discuss specifics of the deal. But in its Nov. 18 application to the state Department of Social and Health Services, Good Samaritan said it wanted to buy the Valleycrest property for $2 million.

That included $1 million for the building, $550,000 for the land and $450,000 for the equipment.

The building was sold Jan. 31. The application for a nursing home license was approved by the state the following day.

“Good Samaritan basically had to start over,” said Suzanne Plaja, program manager for residential care services for DSHS. “It’s almost like starting a new nursing home.”

Once employees are hired and the center is ready to open, it will be able to accept private-pay residents. Regulators then will inspect the building to determine if it meets federal Medicare and Medicaid standards.

But first, Good Samaritan is planning on making changes. The state still needs to approve remodeling plans.

The dining room will be revamped, new carpeting will be installed, the building will be painted and a new entrance will be added. The number of beds will be reduced from 180 to 130.

A wing will be remodeled for an adult day-care facility, which will be operated through a partnership with Holy Family Hospital.

That program cares during the day for adults with dementia, neurological impairments or other ailments. It provides a homelike atmosphere, limited rehabilitation therapy and health services to clients.

Holy Family Adult Day Centers now operates two adult day centers on the North Side and the South Hill for a total of 70 people.

The new Valley adult day-care operation will care for up to 40 people.

“We found this a real exciting opportunity,” said Marie Raschko, executive director of Holy Family Adult Day Centers. “There’s a growing need for adult day care in the Spokane Valley.”

The new nursing home will be known as The Good Samaritan Center for Health and Rehabilitation on Mission Avenue.

“Good Samaritan does have a good history in this state,” Plaja said. “We know who they are.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHO THEY ARE Good Samaritan owns and manages about 240 healthcare facilities nationwide which provide services for 28,500 people. In Spokane, the society also runs the Spokane Valley Good Samaritan Village, a skilled nursing and assisted-living center.