Rosewood Heights Health Center sits at 614 S Crouse Ave in Syracuse, New York, and has a long history serving some of the area's sickest patients, acting as a safety net nursing home, and while the facility holds a 242-bed capacity with mostly semi-private and private rooms, they've got a plan to close the old multi-story building and move residents to smaller, one-story residences in the future, which'll turn the old site into apartments, a restaurant, and some commercial spaces. Rosewood Heights has offered general healthcare, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, intermediate care for those not able to live safely by themselves, hospice, respite care, and home care services and has had a strong focus on memory care for seniors with Alzheimer's or other dementias, giving aid with bathing, dressing, medication management, and making use of secured units to prevent wandering, while also tailoring three home-cooked meals a day for different medical needs like diabetes or high blood pressure. The center has activities and amenities including exercise programs, art and music events, movies, planned social events, and practical things like transportation, barber or salon services, and garden areas, and there are trained staff including registered nurses, compassionate therapists like Mary Ann and Ilona, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, specialized optometrists, and there's a Specialty Surgery Center of Cny on site. They've set up memory care programs with music therapy, animal therapy, tabletop games, outdoor activities, and keep up regular exercise and health schedules to keep people active and engaged, with a mix of assisted living and healthcare supervision to help those who can't manage everything alone, but who don't need 24-hour skilled nursing.
Rosewood Heights has a 95% occupancy rate with about 230 residents, though over the years, federal and state inspectors have documented several persistent problems, including lapses in infection control, food temperature concerns, feeding supervision, room cleanliness, and resident safety at meals, and in recent years they've collected 26 health code violations in one inspection, gotten fines totaling $26,000 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and have been named to the list of the nation's worst nursing homes by CMS, being cited several times for "immediate jeopardy" violations-some care was even called substandard for eight different residents. It's a non-profit corporation owned by St. Joseph's and Crouse hospitals, participates in Medicare and Medicaid, isn't a multi-facility chain, and doesn't operate as a continuing care retirement community or a special focus facility, and it's got a staff count somewhere between 16 and 50 employees, with receptionists known for being comforting and welcoming, as well as a team that includes helpful, joyful, and kind people who try to make things friendly especially for those with high needs. Their grounds include parking for 60 cars, a bike storage area for 62 bicycles, rooms are partially sprinklered for safety, and though the building itself is valued at $14.4 million by the city, there's an agreement in place for it to be sold to a group called 614 South Crouse Avenue LLC, which will change its use in the future. Rosewood Heights also runs family and resident councils, has monitoring systems for health inspections, nurse staffing, and quality measures, and despite its serious challenges and history of violations, it continues to care for many seniors in the Syracuse area with an emphasis on keeping residents active, comfortable, and as safe as possible for as long as they live there. Rosewood Heights' website is http://www.rosewoodheights.org.
