Another SouthCoast Nursing Home Set to Shut Down

NEW BEDFORD — Another area nursing home is shutting down.

The Royal Taber Street Nursing Home, located at 19 Taber Street, will be closing its doors and ceasing all operations by November 30.

Taber Street Nursing Home Administrator Christine Stewart confirmed the shutdown with WBSM News, saying that parent company Royal Health Group cannot afford to fix the under-code building. She says that the state has updated the NFPA 101 - Life Safety Code, which governs life safety inside healthcare and related facilities, to be less lenient when it comes to building safety violations.

“We’re not in the same situation as other facilities. It’s more of the state of the current building and Life Safety Code,” Stewart said.

“We had about nine or 10 waivers on the building over the years where the company was able to show it couldn’t afford the required repairs without closing down.”

As for nursing home staff, Stewart says Royal Health Group will be sending a recruiter out the Royal Taber Street Nursing Home on Wednesday to meet with current staff and help them transition to one of the company’s 13 local facilities, which includes one in Fairhaven and five on Cape Cod.

Stewart says families of patients have already been notified of the November shut down and that Royal Health Group will be assisting the transition of patients as well.

“We’ve individually called every family member and let them know what’s going on. We set up family meetings and asked people what the top three places they would prefer to transition to were,” said Stewart.

“We certainly want to do everything we can to make sure this is a smooth transition as possible for all of our residents.”

The shut down will follow the closure of five SouthCoast nursing homes back in April, including three in New Bedford, one in Fall River and one in Dighton.