Nashville senior living facility prepares to close, giving residents days to find new homes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A senior living facility in Nashville is closing its doors and residents are being told they have 90 days to find a new place to live.

Morningside Belmont resident Anthony Miller said one letter turned his whole world upside down.

“I’m shocked, I don’t know how you can explain how you think you have a comfortable spot and then it suddenly disappears tomorrow,” Miller said. “Just like getting hit by a hurricane.”

The letter detailed the fact that Miller and dozens of others living in the Morningside area of Belmont needed to find a new place to live.

“My brother called me Thursday morning and said, ‘Brother, I have some not-so-good news.’ ‘They told us we had to find a place to live within 90 days.’ I said, “What are you talking about?” He said they were going to shut us down and I said what are you saying,” said Miller’s sister, Katherine Miller-Bowers.

Then Miller-Bowers took the letter and began to read it.

“We have made the difficult decision to close the Morningside of Belmont assisted living community,” the letter said. “The levels of consumer demand we are observing make it impossible to continue operating.”

“I took a deep breath because I just found a place, I felt like it was the perfect place, I can say that because it took me a long time to research,” Miller-Bowers said.

The situation was perfect because Morningside of Belmont is located on the campus of the university Miller attended.

“He was a graduate of Belmont and one of the first black baseball players and worked at the facility while he was in school. He would go there and help, and he felt like it came full circle,” Miller-Bowers said.

While Miller volunteered at the facility as a student, she has come to call it home over the past four months.

“This was a God send and I’m telling you the staff is incredible. “They have worked wonderfully with the whole assisted living concept for me and the care team,” Miller-Bowers said.

WSMV4’s Sharon Danquah reached out to the five-star senior living center’s corporate office for a response, they did not respond, but a Facebook post by the company says:

Five Star Senior Living has made the difficult decision to close Morningside of Belmont. We regularly evaluate our portfolio of senior living communities and, following a recently completed review, have determined that Morningside of Belmont is not financially sustainable due to the high cost of operating and maintaining the community in accordance with our high standards.

Five Star works closely with residents and their families to develop individual, customized plans and will help each resident transition to an appropriate alternative long-term care provider. The community will remain open as we work through this process over the next several months and until all residents are safely and successfully relocated.

“What is the urgency? There were no signs, the management office was in very bad condition. I don’t blame the managers because it’s ruining their lives, it’s ruining the lives of all the employees,” Miller-Bowers said.

Miller added, “I have confidence in this staff and this organization. “They will not allow anyone to be thrown out.”

But Miller-Bowers hopes the company will reconsider closing its doors.

The standard period for notice to vacate an assisted living facility is 90 days, the Tennessee Department of Health said.