Paradigm Seeking To Close South Windsor Nursing Home

June 01--Paradigm Healthcare, a for-profit nursing home operator based out of East Hartford, sold five of its properties earlier this year and is seeking to close its last one in South Windsor.

The closure needs approval from the state Department of Social Services and no hearing has been scheduled.

CEO Scott Ziskin confirmed the company is seeking to close Paradigm Healthcare Center of South Windsor, scheduled for late July, and the sale of the other homes. The home lost money under its previous operator, and Ziskin said that although his company tried for years to attract enough patients to get the facility to turn a profit, there was never a fiscal year where it broke even or made money. Paradigm bought the home in January 2011.

The home currently has 65 patients and is licensed for 100. It has become more difficult to keep nursing homes full as state government encourages the elderly and disabled to use their Medicaid funds to hire home health aides, Ziskin said.

"We just couldn't get enough occupancy," he said, and the Hartford region has more nursing home beds than there is demand for.

The chain was one of three targeted for a strike by the Service Employees International Union, District 1199, in April 2015. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy convinced the union to postpone the strike in order to see if there would be more money in the state budget for wages. Ziskin said the contract was settled several months ago, but its terms were not a contributing factor to the closure.

About 70 percent of nursing home revenue in Connecticut is paid by Medicaid, the government insurance for the poor that is financed 50-50 with state and federal taxes.

Paradigm sold its five other nursing homes to RegalCare Management Group. Those homes are in New Haven, West Haven, Torrington, Prospect and Waterbury. Ziskin said Regal Care Management Group is also a for-profit company, based out of Waterbury.

Paradigm Healthcare will go out of business when the South Windsor home closes.

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