JAA may be forced to close longtime Squirrel Hill nursing home

PITTSBURGH — The Jewish Association on Aging announced Thursday it could close the Charles M. Morris Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Squirrel Hill in January due to funding shortfalls and the Covid-19 crisis.

The Squirrel Hill nursing center has been slated for tentative closure by the board, although the decision has yet to be finalized, the JAA said. The closing would occur Jan. 12, 2021, if approved. About 50 residents and their families are being consulted about their options, which include either being transferred to another facility or going into home care. There will be an unspecified number of job losses as well.

Deborah Winn-Horvitz, president and CEO of the Jewish Association on Aging, said the decision was a painful one. But nonprofit and faith-based skilled nursing facilities like Charles M. Morris have been dealing with a large gap in funding in recent years: It’s a gap of $4 million in funding from Medicaid, where most of the reimbursement comes from, in the past fiscal year, and the gap has grown to double in five years.

“The last few years have been very challenging as a result of the increasing shortfall in Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes and the changes under way in senior care as people choose to remain in their homes longer and care shifts to home-based settings,” Horvitz said. “Covid-19, of course, has dramatically exacerbated these challenges.”

Read more from our news partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Pittsburgh airport honored for its honeybee program

Pittsburgh Business Times