Boston leaders look to protect residents of closing Mission Hill nursing home

With health care centers in Boston facing a capacity crisis, a nursing home's plan to close could exacerbate the problem.

The Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center in Mission Hill, which opened in 1927, is set to shut down soon.

"Two weeks ago, residents of the Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center were notified that management is closing the facility in 90 days," Boston City Councilor Benjamin Weber said.

Weber and fellow City Councilors Henry Santana and Sharon Durkan co-sponsored a resolution to help the nursing home's 76 elderly residents, primarily of color.

Staff say fiscal challenged led to the closure.

"The first red flag was that we had not been paid for five weeks in November," Admissions Director Leslie Henderson told NBC10 Boston.

Workers described their checks bouncing.

"The city council needs to have an active role when we see these warning signs," Durkan said.

Staff also tell NBC10 Boston that CEO Tony Francis' salary increased significantly from $180,000.

"Our problem is is our administrator makes over $625,000 a year, yet he's closing this building voluntarily because of financial distress," Henderson said. "So the red flag is that he's a crook. That's the red flag. There's no mortgage on the building."

The nonprofit nursing home was donated to the community as a charitable entity. Staff will now look for new jobs as residents look for new homes.

"These are humans that we're talking about, these are people's homes that we're talking about, and we need to do everything as a city, as a state, to make sure that we are protecting them," Santana said.

In a statement to NBC10 Boston, Francis said the nursing home's leadership "will assist residents and family members to ensure that all residents are transferred to a skilled nursing facility that meets both their own and their family's needs."

"Management will also assist staff in transitioning to positions elsewhere in the industry," he added.