Editor’s note: On Friday, September 4, 2020, Harbor Crest Home, 817 17th Street, Fulton, IL, relocated “most residents…en masse to Big Meadows Home in Savanna, IL.” Staff were notified just days before, on Tuesday, September 1. The following press release was issued Thursday, September 3. Click here to read Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey’s updated late-July article. His photo in that article was taken on Saturday, September 5, “just as the bus was leaving, to transfer the final residents to Savanna,” he stated.
“Harbor Crest Home Resident Relocations and Planned Closing”
We must again relocate residents for their best interests. Projected staffing levels at Harbor Crest will be inadequate as early as this week. Overtime pay and higher cost for outside agency staffing are not enough to attract the 24/7 coverage that we all expect and residents deserve.
This decision was clear. It was made with rapid communication with regulators, families, and staff. Our cherished reputation as a 5 Star facility could no longer be maintained if we continue. The future of the Home will be considered in the weeks ahead.
We will strive to make staff whole regarding all accrued pay and benefits. Some should be able to transfer with the residents to their new locations. Others will be retained at Harbor Crest for the nearterm. We have arranged for most residents to move en masse to Big Meadows Home in Savanna, IL. Other facilities are available.
We commend existing staff who have strained under the severe Phase 1 Lockdown period over the past three months. They performed heroically to keep Harbor Crest as one of the few homes that has remained COVID-free for the past three months.
For more detail please contact
- Marsha Norman, Board President 815-535-2392
- Larry Russell, Board Secretary 815-764-0879
- Myra Chatic, Administrator 815-589-3335.