A local nursing home is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
That petition was filed recently in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Western NY by Fairport Baptist Homes.
In its filing, the organization notes that “like many nursing homes and adult care facilities throughout the country” Fairport Baptist Homes experienced unprecedented financial challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included falling occupancy, staffing pressures, and increased costs for personal protective equipment and other safety measures.
Fairport Baptist Homes said it lost nearly $8 million in revenue in 2020 and 2021 due to fewer people using their facilities.
Fairport Baptist Homes said that its Board of Directors have decided that it’s in the best interest of its residents, employees and creditors that it pursue having the nursing home’s assets sold to The Friendly Home, a Brighton-based organization.
The financial pressures facing Fairport Baptist Homes apparently began some years earlier. In its Ch. 11 petition, the organization notes that by the late 2010s, it was becoming increasingly clear that operating as a free standing skilled nursing facility was not economically viable, noting that New York’s reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare were not keeping up with inflation.
Fairport Baptist Homes began more than a century ago, in 1904. Today it includes 142-beds as well independent living units and Community Ministries, which provides services to seniors in the Perinton area.
A statement issued Monday by Fairport Baptist Homes says its plan calls for stabilizing its finances by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, continuing to implement efficiencies and working with Friendly Senior Living to provide guidance.
Under the proposal, which is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court and the New York State Department of Health, Fairport Baptist Homes would become an affiliate of Friendly Senior Living.
The statement said that the primary goal of this process is "to maintain Fairport Baptist Homes as a strong, viable organization."