ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The closure of Waterview Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Rochester forced more than 160 residents to find new homes, making the local nursing home shortage even worse.
A lack of beds
Now, the lack of available nursing home beds is having a domino effect on area hospitals. When a nursing home bed is not available, patients often stay in hospital beds, which means fewer beds are open for people in the emergency room who need hospital care. At Strong Memorial Hospital, 115 patients no longer require hospital care but cannot be moved because there are no nursing home beds. Another 48 patients are in the same situation at Highland Hospital.
Dean Jordan
Vietnam’s legacy lives on in the very cells of veterans exposed to the horrors of that war. Agent Orange, a potent herbicide, was used to clear the dense forest that provided cover for enemy Viet Cong forces. But American troops had no idea they would fight another enemy years later, diseases caused by exposure to Agent Orange.
Dean Jordan described his recent diagnosis as a slammed door. “It was just recently I got the slammed door,” Jordan said…