Stop Proposed Construction of a
20-Story Nursing Home Tower
Next to
PS 163 Elementary School on West 97th Street
20-Story Nursing Home Tower
Next to
PS 163 Elementary School on West 97th Street
Why Nursing Home Advocates Oppose JHL on W 97th St.
At its current West 106th Street location JHL operates at 99% capacity, yet it plans to downsize by 100 beds in order to squeeze onto West 97th Street. JHL claims to care about the community's need for nursing home beds but they are willing to cut 100 beds in order to move to West 97th Street.
• 20 stories would compromise safe evacuation of elderly nursing home residents in the event of fire or other emergency
• 20 stories would "warehouse" mobility-impaired elderly, greatly limiting their access to the outdoors and the community; nursing home advocates agree that a tower-style nursing home is an outdated, undesirable plan
• As of June 2012, the NY State Department of Health website cited JHL with 43 health and life safety code deficiencies (compared to a statewide average of 24)
• Despite its poor record on patient care, JHL rewards its executives with excessive salaries (IRS-verified compensation for JHL's CEO in 2010 was $617,965)
• JHL plans to further downsize by replacing more beds with sub-acute, short-stay care
• The model JHL proposes was developed for single-story suburban nursing homes and cannot be satisfactorily modified to a high-rise city tower
• A 20-story building disregards nursing home reform values and principles, including the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987. Rather than promoting the highest level of well-being for each resident, JHL's plans would reduce staff and confine residents in a too-restrictive environment that would deny them easy access to normal neighborhood life
• JHL's proposal includes windowless day rooms, which would deprive residents of natural light and the ability to observe streetscapes
• JHL's proposed floor plan eliminates hallways, which would reduce privacy and dignity. It also eliminates unimpeded, railed corridors for walking exercise and a change of scenery. Walking is an activity that is critical for reducing the feeling of confinement and claustrophobia; a high-rise environment would exacerbate these feelings
• JHL's current location features a large, easily accessible garden. Moving from two acres on 106th Street to 1/4 acre on West 97th Street would severely compromise this amenity
• 20 stories would compromise safe evacuation of elderly nursing home residents in the event of fire or other emergency
• 20 stories would "warehouse" mobility-impaired elderly, greatly limiting their access to the outdoors and the community; nursing home advocates agree that a tower-style nursing home is an outdated, undesirable plan
• As of June 2012, the NY State Department of Health website cited JHL with 43 health and life safety code deficiencies (compared to a statewide average of 24)
• Despite its poor record on patient care, JHL rewards its executives with excessive salaries (IRS-verified compensation for JHL's CEO in 2010 was $617,965)
• JHL plans to further downsize by replacing more beds with sub-acute, short-stay care
• The model JHL proposes was developed for single-story suburban nursing homes and cannot be satisfactorily modified to a high-rise city tower
• A 20-story building disregards nursing home reform values and principles, including the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987. Rather than promoting the highest level of well-being for each resident, JHL's plans would reduce staff and confine residents in a too-restrictive environment that would deny them easy access to normal neighborhood life
• JHL's proposal includes windowless day rooms, which would deprive residents of natural light and the ability to observe streetscapes
• JHL's proposed floor plan eliminates hallways, which would reduce privacy and dignity. It also eliminates unimpeded, railed corridors for walking exercise and a change of scenery. Walking is an activity that is critical for reducing the feeling of confinement and claustrophobia; a high-rise environment would exacerbate these feelings
• JHL's current location features a large, easily accessible garden. Moving from two acres on 106th Street to 1/4 acre on West 97th Street would severely compromise this amenity