CT GOP Senators’ Statement on CT Nursing Home Closures & Mass Layoffs

For Immediate Release

Sen. Kevin Kelly, Sen. Tony Hwang and Sen. Henri Martin issued the following statement regarding nursing home operator Athena Health Care Systems this week notifying the CT Department of Labor of its plans to close two skilled nursing homes in Bristol by March 21 and lay off all facility employees.

“These decisions impact hundreds of seniors and their caregivers, together with the health care workers at these facilities and their families. Hearings will be held to allow the public to weigh in on these decisions, but the trend is clear: the financial instability of nursing homes in Connecticut is getting worse.

We need answers and long-term solutions. As policymakers, we can either watch these closures adversely affect senior’s lives and healthcare jobs, or we can work in bipartisan fashion at the State Capitol to bring stability and predictably to long term care. We must choose the latter course of action because seniors and labor deserve better.”