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page 1
"I do not believe it was fair to
convey these images (bare wires
and debris) without also men-
tioning that Menorah House was
in the midst of a major renova-
tion."
He says his company, the
Medilodge Group, which has
spent $1 million to renovate the
facility, cannot affect change
"overnight."
Federation Chief Financial
Officer Mark Davidoff oversaw
the transfer of Borman Hall res-
idents to Menorah House. He be-
lieves the article's assessment
does not pertain as much to cur-
rent conditions as it does to prob-
lems the facility encountered
when it was known as Mount
Vernon Nursing Center.
"It's sort of history," Mr.
Davidoff says.
That history is fraught with
years of sub-par evaluations from
the Michigan Department of
Public Health, along with a warn-
ing against the home in a 1994
guide to area nursing homes, is-
sued by the advocacy group
Citizens for Better Care.
In mid-1994, Federation lead-
ers encouraged Mr. Wronski's
Medilodge Group to purchase
Mount Vernon from Isidor
Eisenberg and run it as a Jewish
institution, replacing Borman
Hall. Federation agreed to sup-
port religious and cultural pro-
gramming there.
Borman Hall, a Federation-af-
filiated home located in Detroit,
had been faltering with its own
shoddy state inspections and was
sold last year. It is now run pri-
vately as the nonsectarian
Heartland Community Care
Center.
Mr. Wronski agreed to the
Mount Vernon deal last
September, and shortly there-
after the facility became Menorah
House. Concurrent with the
change in ownership, the state
slapped the home with another
bad review for quality of care is-
sues — health, dignity and
staffing problems, among others.
In early November, amid ex-
tensive renovations, residents
from Borman Hall began moving
in. The transition wasn't entire-
ly smooth.
In December, one resident fell
down a stairwell and died. His
body was found 2 112 hours later.
The accident occurred because
exit alarms were not working, ac-
cording to state inspection re-
ports.
The kosher kitchen wasn't
complete until long after Borman
residents relocated.
The Consumer Reports article
has renewed controversy over the
home just as conditions at
Menorah House seem to be turn-
ing around. This summer, the fa-
cility passed its state inspection
with 31 deficiencies, but no high-
level violations. A public-health
licensing official, Lois Hawver,
said in July that the home had
made significant progress since
its sale to the Medilodge Group.
Oddly, the Consumer Reports
article quoted MDPH's Dr.
Richard Yerian as saying: "It's in
trouble again. It has major defi-
ciency citations." Dr. Yerian de-
nies making the remarks.
"We don't know where the
quote actually came from," he
says. "I don't have any context to
put it in."
Prompted by the magazine ar-
ticle, the federal Health Care
Financing Administration has
requested copies of the facility's
state surveys. After an investi-
gation, officials will determine
whether they concur with the
state's relatively rosy evaluation
of the home.
Dana Hexberg Klock, who says
her mother was prodded to leave
Borman for Menorah, became in-
censed after reading Consumer
Reports. She is glad her 91-year-
old mother, Jean Wall, decided to
stay in Detroit at Heartland.
"I do not hear anything good
about Menorah House, which val-
idates the decision my mother
made to stay at Heartland," she
says.
Yet relatives of elderly living
at Menorah House aren't so crit-
ical. Last Monday evening, two
adult children were tending to
their feeble parents. Another
watched television with her
bedridden husband.
All three said conditions
at Menorah House have im-
proved over recent months. They
noted a decrease in staff
turnover and described employ-
ees as helpful.
"I don't expect miracles, I just
want my mother to receive de-
cent care and I think she's get-
ting that," said Laurence Yocum,
who visits every day.
Another visitor seconded Mr.
Yocum's vote of confidence in the
home. "They care about caring,"
she said.
But all is not perfect.
An elderly man, sitting just
outside of the room in an arm-
chair reads U.S.A. Today and re-
marks with chagrin that the
environs are too hot and "the res-
idents haven't been served yet
— and here it is, after 6."
It's 90 degrees. Residents have
fans in their rooms, but there is
no air conditioning. Ad-
ministrators say the building is
too old to accommodate a com-
prehensive cooling system. They
estimate installation would cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The alternative is to put air con-
ditioners in the common areas,
but that won't happen until next
year.
"We are still trying to find the
most feasible way," Mr. Wronski
says.
The state does not require
nursing homes in Michigan to of-
fer air conditioners, but residents
must receive fans and plenty of
water. [1