Gateway Healthcare closing six group homes

GATEWAY HEALTHCARE will close six group homes by the end of August to reduce budget deficits after years of declining reimbursements.
GATEWAY HEALTHCARE will close six group homes by the end of August to reduce budget deficits after years of declining reimbursements.

PROVIDENCE – Gateway Healthcare will close six group homes for adults and children by the end of August to reduce budget deficits after years of declining reimbursements.

The company said in a news release that the closures will affect 70 residents – 55 adults and 15 children and adolescents.

“We did not make this decision lightly,” Richard Leclerc, Gateway Healthcare president, said in a statement. “It is no longer possible to sustain the level and quality of services we provide at the current reimbursement levels.”

Gateway said the decision to close the homes follows a decade of reimbursement rates that have remained flat or have been cut significantly, including a 40 percent cut four years ago.

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“We’ve had to subsidize these services for well over a decade and we are at a point now where we can no longer do that and maintain the quality and level of care needed for this population,” Leclerc said. “As the major provider of community behavioral and mental health services, we need to make difficult decisions to ensure that we are able to protect and maintain our mission of providing services to 25,000 people each year in Rhode Island.”

The homes affected include four for adults with mental health or substance use issues: LaBelle House in North Kingstown, Central Street in Central Falls, and King House and Men’s House in Woonsocket, as well as Arcadia Children’s Home in West Greenwich and Lighthouse for Youth in Wakefield. The latter already had been scheduled to close at the end of June.

All resident treatment plans will be completed or residents will be transitioned to an appropriate care setting, Gateway said.

Sixty staff members are affected and Gateway said it will work with them to explore other potential opportunities within the organization.

Gateway Healthcare, a Lifespan partner, still will continue operation of eight adult group homes and four group homes for adolescents.

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