Editor's note: On Thursday, August 27, Easterseals NH announced they were not ending their adult day care program. Read our latest coverage here.
The nonprofit Easterseals NH announced Wednesday that it’s closing its adult day program that serves seniors and people with disabilities in Manchester and Rochester. The organization is also shutting down in-home care services across the state.
In a written announcement, Easterseals NH said challenges recruiting care staff and rising costs have contributed to the closures. The adult day programs have also been facing low enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite ongoing efforts to increase participation, enrollment has not returned to a level that can sustain the programs,” according to a statement signed by both Maureen Beauregard, President and CEO of Easterseals NH & VT and Bryan Bouchard, the chair of the board of directors.
The nonprofit said it struggled to hire and keep staff with rising labor costs and its aim to pay competitive wages. This led to the decision to discontinue the in-home services and personal care programs, which help people with light housekeeping, preparing meals and daily hygiene routines.
“Taken together, the result of these chronic challenges is that ESNH has operated both programs at significant and unsustainable losses in recent years, despite our best efforts,” Michele Talwani, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for Easterseals wrote to NHPR.
Talwani said 125 adult day clients and 245 in-home and personal care services clients are expected to be impacted.
Beauregard said the organization will work with the state Department of Health and Human Services and community partners to find care options for those losing services.
“We have meetings scheduled next week with several provider agencies who are interested in accepting referrals,” Talwani wrote via email. “This has been a very difficult decision to reach, as we care deeply about everyone we serve. We are doing our very best to ensure a smooth transition to a new agency.”
“DHHS is working closely with the organization, case managers and our community partners to monitor the transition of the services to other providers to ensure continuity of care for the people who benefit from these services,” Jake Leon, spokesperson for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
Louise Davis, who lives in Hooksett, said the announcement came as a complete shock. Her husband, an 82-year-old disabled veteran with dementia, had been receiving services from Easterseals NH.
Davis said her husband has a speech impediment and gait issues, so when she enrolled him in the program two months ago, he was able to get help with strength training. The program also kept him socialized. Plus she said the staff was wonderful.
“My husband always was up in the morning getting dressed,” Davis said. “There was never a time when he told me he didn't want to go. He was always ready to go and very happy to be there and it was a good thing for him.”
She said the support her husband received at Easterseals NH provided her relief as his main caregiver. Caregiving, she said, is a full-time commitment.
“I feel instead of thinking outside the box as to how this program can be maintained for New Hampshire's most vulnerable, they are being left with no resources, and many of the people will decline in all areas of health, physical and mental, and will be homebound in the discontinuation notice we received,” she said.
Davis said she’s working with the Veteran’s Affairs office for a replacement program. She said they recommended two options to her so far, one in Merrimack, the other in Salem, an hour away.
“I don't have transportation,” she said. “I mean, if I have to bring [him] there and back, that's about two hours in the car for me, negating any benefit to myself for that. Obviously, if it's something that's good for him and he needs [it], I will do it.”
Easterseals NH will still continue to offer childcare services, early intervention, behavioral health, affordable housing for seniors, veterans and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
No new clients for the closing programs are being accepted. Current clients will receive services for another 60 days; services will end by October 17.
