Park Place, Pacific Place Closing

Five Star Quality Care is closing two skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities in Mills County – Glenwood-based Park Place and Pacific Place located east of Pacific Junction.

The Massachusetts-based owner and operator of the two facilities announced the closures last week. Combined, Park Place and Pacific Place treat nearly 100 adult residents with physical or intellectual disabilities and employ over 250 workers.

“The decision to close these facilities was based on an unfavorable financial outlook,” Five Star officials stated in a prepared press release. “The cost of operating and maintaining the facilities is considerably higher than the revenues it generates and continued operations are no longer feasible. This was an extremely difficult decision.”

Neither facility is accepting new residents and closure dates will be determined by how long it takes for residents to be placed with alternative long-care providers.

“No timeline has been set,” said Donna Hawley, regional director of operations for Five Star. “We will be there as long as there are residents.”

“Five Star has a regional management team in place to provide additional support to residents, families and employees,” the news release stated. “Local and regional management will work in partnership with residents and families to ensure the transition of every resident to an appropriate alternative location. The safety and security of residents is our foremost priority.”

Larry Winum, president of the Mills County Economic Development Foundation, said the loss of Park Place and Pacific Place could impact the Glenwood economy. Park Place is the third largest employer in Glenwood, behind the Glenwood Resource Center and Glenwood Community School District. Winum said the economic development foundation has already offered its assistance in helping find a potential new owner for the two facilities.

“The hard part is that we’re going to have to find somebody pretty quickly because they’re going to start the placement of their residents,” Winum said. “Hopefully, we can work something out because we certainly don’t want to see them leave.”