2 assisted living facilities on Weinberg Campus to close

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The New York State Department of Health has approved the closure of two assisted living facilities that make up more parts of the Weinberg Campus in Amherst, the 1199SEIU union said.

Two assisted living facilities, Garden House and Dosberg Manor, will close. These closures follow the closure of the Rosa Coplon Living Center last month, leaving more than 120 residents without a home.

“We’re beside ourselves. Our mother is now changing residence at 92. This is going to be devastating for her,” said Marie Heisler, whose mother, Marcy, is living at the Dosberg Manor.

Heisler said her family was given no warning that the facility was going to close.

“She paid her rent every month and now we’re being told even the electric might be shut off,” she told News 4. “I don’t understand how the executives can get away with this, doing this to the elderly. Where are we going to place her? Now we’re back to square one. We don’t know where she’s going to go.”

According to the New York State Department of Health website on nursing home profiles, there are 48 beds at Garden House and 96 at Dosberg Manor. Nearly 100 health care workers are employed at the two facilities and will be laid off.

Between the new layoffs and the layoffs at Rosa Coplon, more than 300 have lost their jobs.

“The wellbeing of residents in adult care facilities is, and will continue to be, a top priority of the New York State Department of Health,” the NYS Department of Health said in a statement. “While the Department has approved the closure plans submitted by the operators of the Weinberg Campus for Dosberg Manor Adult Home and Garden House Assisted Living, the facilities’ operator and administrator must carry out a safe and orderly closure that respects the needs and desires of – and is as minimally disruptive as possible to – the residents and their families.”

In addition, a food pantry on the Weinberg Campus run by the UB Newman Center, Temple Beth Zion and Catholic Charities could be shut down because of the bankruptcy. The pantry serves about 200 people and families, mostly seniors and immigrants. About 10 refrigerators are stocked with meat and fish, and the organization is worried the electricity will be shut off and they will lose the food.

The group is seeking a new site in the Getzville area.

“Entirely preventable,” the union said in a statement. “The closure of the assisted living programs in addition to the closure of the long-term care facility results in the loss of critical healthcare services to our WNY community.”

It is unclear when exactly the assisted living facilities will close.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

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