By Staff
Dowagiac Nursing Home employees justifiably feel victimized. They have been stripped of their voices when they need them most.
"We were all warned about being fired on the spot if we talk to any media," one said. "That alone should make people wonder what is going on inside the nursing home."
Employees say many times they called the state about issues going on inside the facility. The state came, checked and left, stating there was not enough information.
Many of them describe a situation long before the state entered the picture where the man who signed their checks – "The checks were bouncing for months. Every two weeks we all held our breath…" – funneled money to other properties until only Dowagiac Nursing Home remained.
"Everyone was told things will get better for us now."
With that scenario as a backdrop, Dowagiac Nursing Home maintenance people, starved for resources, bought what they needed from their own pockets, from light bulbs to paint and paint brushes.
The kitchen staff had to account for every morsel of food to control costs. Nurses and their assistants lacked adequate staff and there was no overtime when they pulled extra shifts.
Laundry often operated with one washer trying to keep residents' clothes clean.
"They did literally work us like dogs," three employees have told us.
Instead of eight residents, nursing assistants juggled 10 or 11.
Staff bought soap that would lather and shampoo and conditioners to make residents' hair look good.
Frustrated staff say one of the state citations was garbage can lids left open, after garbage went two weeks without being picked up because the bill went unpaid.
"The state knew what was going on," we hear time and again. "They did nothing until now to stop him. They knew he cleaned out the accounts, residents' money also, and let it go. The state is trying to make it look like the staff's fault … This is far from the truth. The staff at Dowagiac Nursing Home is the best around and care deeply for the residents in the building. Otherwise, they would not have gone out and bought their own supplies. They would not have gone to Goodwill to get residents clothing if they had nothing. They also would not have brought things in from home to use at the nursing home.
"The staff has worked hard knowing it wasn't right what was going on at the nursing home, that the man who signed our checks didn't care what happened. Some residents needed new chairs, new beds, new equipment in general and it was not done, all because this man did not want to spend the money.
"Red Oak Management is a for-profit organization and that is exactly what he did – made his profit and left the nursing home in a shambles. The state is not saying a word about this person (John Hupp) or what he did to bring it down. They would rather cover their own butt and say it was the staff."
"It is a sad day every day in the building now," the staff says.
"No smiles. Mostly anger at what is going on and what the newspapers and TV are saying. We owe over $1 million to creditors and vendors from all over. Over $1 million to the State of Michigan. The State of Michigan and Red Oak management are to blame for the nursing home closing, not the staff. The state should have done something a long time ago. Everyone at the nursing home knows they had plenty of opportunity to make things right. They never did."
Clearly, earlier state oversight could have noticed all the red flags. It's been five years since Hupp's Red Oak Healthcare Management took over the facility.
Had Dowagiac Nursing Home not been allowed to plunge so deeply in debt, there would still be potential buyers to keep the residents and 150 jobs in Dowagiac.