Skilled nursing is out at Belle Reve

Belle Reve Assisted Living Center in Milford no longer has a skilled nursing unit.

“There’s no Medicaid in the Belle Reve facility now that skilled nursing is out,” said Robbin Skibber, executive director of the Pike County Area Agency on Aging.

She said private facilities are not required to offer skilled nursing when providing long-term dementia care. Medicare doesn’t provide facilities with enough money in its monthly payments to cover costs, she said. Facilities lose money if, for example, a resident in need of care can provide only a $900 Social Security check , and the actual cost of care per month is $2,000, she said.

Gretchen Vakiener, spokesperson for Belle Reve and vice president of sales and marketing and Heritage Senior Living (heritagesl.com) in Blue Bell, Pa., said, “Unlike many skilled nursing home providers, Belle Reve’s small, 30-bed unit, did not have the economies of scale that other larger providers offer. Our plan is to expand Belle Reve’s Memory Care neighborhood to meet the needs of seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in Pike County and surrounding communities. Milford Senior Care is one option for seniors in Pike County that receive Medicaid benefits and require nursing home care. In addition, a new facility offering skilled nursing and assisted living is expected to open next year in Westfall Township.”

Michael Sullivan, executive director of the Pike County Development Authority, said the ribbon cutting for the the new Westfall assisted living facility’s ribbon cutting is scheduled for next month.

Ten residents at Belle Reve died of COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic. Four people who worked at the facility told The Courier in April that employees were given little to no training.