What is taking place?

CRISTA Ministries has made the difficult decision to cease operations of CRISTA Rehab & Skilled Care, the Shoreline-based skilled nursing facility within the CRISTA Senior Living ministry. CRISTA’s goal is to be in position to close the facility by August 31, 2020, once all residents have been placed in new homes that are able to meet their personal and clinical needs.

Why has CRISTA made this decision?

CRISTA is committed to providing quality Senior Living services. It has been CRISTA’s experience that financing and operating a viable skilled nursing care center has become increasingly challenging for all providers, and particularly for single facility operators such as CRISTA. While CRISTA is blessed to currently hold a Four-Star Quality Rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the call to meet or exceed ever-developing quality and safety requirements while adapting to modified reimbursement payment models designed to reduce Federal costs has proven unsustainable for CRISTA.

CRISTA is not unique in making the painful decision to close; CRISTA now joins more than twenty other skilled nursing facilities in Washington which for various reasons have reached a point of announcing imminent closure since 2017.

Where will current skilled nursing residents within the CRISTA community be placed?

CRISTA’s immediate efforts are focused on supporting its current skilled nursing residents and their families through a transition to a new care setting where residents’ clinical and personal needs will be met and where they can continue to lead safe and happy lives. A number of local facilities have reached out to us about the opportunity to welcome our current residents, and we will continue to dialogue with these facilities as we strive to provide our residents and their families with an abundance of choices as they prepare to transition to a new home.

CRISTA anticipates that placement options for affected residents will include community nursing homes and resident care alternatives like in-home care support, assisted living facilities, and adult family homes, all of which are meaningful long-term care options for thousands of clients in Washington. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has worked to expand its support for resident care alternatives which exist in addition to nursing homes.

Throughout the resident transition process, CRISTA Senior Living will partner with representatives of the State of Washington Home & Community Services (HCS) staff, who will assist CRISTA in securing placements, and with the Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program to ensure that resident choice and rights are honored during this process.

What is the timing for the closure of CRISTA Rehab & Skilled Care?

Federal regulations require that 60-day notice be provided to residents when a facility is being closed. Formal notice letters will be issued during the middle of June. CRISTA’s goal is to complete the nursing home closure by August 31, 2020, and to this end, CRISTA will invest in additional support staff that will assist in the transitions for its impacted residents and their families. Please be assured that CRISTA Rehab & Skilled Care will continue to operate until all residents have found new homes.

What are closure implications for CRISTA Rehab & Skilled Care staff?

This ministry has been greatly blessed by the many professionals who have devoted themselves to the care of vulnerable adults at CRISTA Rehab & Skilled Care. These teammates have shown themselves to be true heroes during the battle against COVID-19, and CRISTA laments the impact of this job loss upon its teammates. Some of CRISTA’s valued workers may find roles in other areas of CRISTA Senior Living, and CRISTA will make strides to assist the remainder with finding new jobs at other care facilities where their gifts and passion are needed. We are consistently engaging in conversation with other local facilities about what opportunities they may have.

How will CRISTA staff communicate with families and responsible parties about options during the closure process?

CRISTA has been developing several approaches to deal with the difficulties in communicating while under COVID-19 restrictions. These approaches will include periodic video conferencing and regular mailings containing updated information. Most importantly, CRISTA will have social service and nursing clinical staff for our residents and resident family members to communicate concerns and questions with at every step of this transition process. Designated facility team leaders will be available to listen to resident needs and concerns and communicate these to the placement team as it supports placement in a resident’s location of choice.

How will residents and families be able to tour facilities which have visitation restrictions because of COVID?

Visitation restrictions are Federal mandates at the time of this writing. However, these mandates will continue to evolve and we believe that facilities will likely be able to permit visitations when they are able to provide COVID-testing after the shortage of testing supplies has been remediated. CRISTA’s hope is that these issues will be resolved toward the end of June with facility visits resuming by that time. If visitor restrictions continue unchanged, CRISTA will work with facilities to obtain as much information as it can for residents, including video tour options and virtual tours with their placement support staff.