Leaders of Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home say financial problems are ‘systemic’

The founders of Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home said in response to Monday’s rally to keep it open that the financial problems affecting the building are systematic and indicated its closure is all but inevitable.

The Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate – founders and sponsors of the nursing home – made the “difficult decision” to close it on Feb. 28 following several years of study, which included attempts to sell the business or merge it with a bigger healthcare company.

That was in a statement provided by Sister Jeanne Bessette, president of the Order of the Sisters of St. Francis, in response to Monday’s rally held by the Illinois Nurses Association outside Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home, located at 1201 Wyoming Avenue, Joliet.

“Stand alone facilities can no longer operate without a deficit. The fact of the matter is that this 60-year-old home is in great need of renovation and repair, neither of which OLA can afford at the scale of what is needed,” according to Bessette’s statement.

In November, 90 residents were at OLA and that number stands at 35 as of Monday, according to Bessette. Her statement said they will all move to other facilities by the end of February and those other facilities are “eager for OLA’s employees to apply for openings.”

OLA has been understaffed, relying on high-cost agency nurses and certified nursing assistances, according to Bessette’s statement.

The Paycheck Protection Program loans were obtained for the nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Bessette’s statement said the figure reported by INA is “overblown.”

INA organizer Jessica Prewitt waived a sign at Monday’s rally that said, “$5.5 million in COVID money, where is it?”

Bessette said the figure is just more than $3 million.

“We offered the INA an opportunity to get the financial statements, but they refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement with OLA regarding this financial information,” Bessette’s statement said.

When asked why, Bessette said, “We do not normally release financial information to employees. OLA is a nonprofit sponsored by our congregation, not employee owned.”

INA offered some staffing ideas to reduce costs but the “financial issues are more systemic,” Bessette’s statement said.

“None of the ideas would help OLA to operate without a deficit. Nor would their ideas address the critical capital improvements that are needed immediately, with considerably more funding needed for continuous capital repairs after that,” Bessette’s statement said.

In response, INA released a statement on Tuesday that said the conduct of the management this year “suggests they never had any interest in keeping the facility open.”

“This decision was arrived at by a management team that would not in good faith have any conversations with their employees, INA staff, residents or families about what has been happening at the facility,” INA’s statement said.

INA said their received their PPP loan figure from OLA attorney David Laurent and CSJI CEO Denise Gannon and contended OLA received $500,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

“Additionally we find it odd that if they have been ‘researching’ their finances for years, yet waited until the very first day of negotiations with INA to announce that the facility was closing,” INA’s statement said.

The union said there’s been “zero transparency” after OLA brought in outside management companies.

“It is now left to the employees, residents, and families to pick up the pieces and find a new home. The image of the OLA residents being evicted into the cold February will be OLA management’s legacy,” INA’s statement said.