Those with friends and family residing in Elk Meadows Assisted Living & Memory Care in Oakley now have less than a month to find new accommodation for their loved ones before Summit County’s only senior care facility closes.Residents received their 45-day notices on Oct. 17 — about two weeks more than required by state law — that Elk Meadows would cease operations on Dec. 1. The building’s sale hasn’t been finalized, but the owners have said an ongoing net loss has driven the decision.“We want to thank you for staying at the Elk Meadows Assisted Living Community, and for giving us the opportunity to provide you with care and assisted living/memory care services. However, the future holds a new chapter for this location, so we are reaching out to help review your options for the coming weeks,” a letter addressed to residents said.About 35 residents were living in the 42-bed assisted living and memory care facility when the possible sale, and potential conversion into a residential treatment center, was announced in late September. Many of the former residents relocated to other care facilities in Heber City, Holladay or Lindon. Now only about a dozen seniors remain, and more move out every week.Utah House District 4 Rep. Kera Birkeland met with Elk Meadows residents on Wednesday afternoon to hear their concerns and feedback in light of the closure. The No. 1 thing she said she heard from the seniors was that they understand it’s too late to do anything for them, but changes could be made to help ease the transition in the future.Afterward, Birkeland told community members during a town hall-style meeting at South Summit High School that she’s opened a bill file to change the noticing requirements. She wants long-term care facilities to increase the minimum notice from 30 to 90 days and mandate property owners disclose to prospective residents whether they intend to sell.“When someone comes in to look at living there, why not tell them you might sell? That, to me, seems like a courteous, logical thing that, if you’re not going to do, we can require that, I believe, at the state level,” Birkeland said.State Sen. Ron Winterton, who represents Summit County in District 20, also attended the community forum. He collaborated with Birkeland to hire general counsel and conduct legislative research into the matter. The state representatives said they wished they “had better news” for residents hoping to keep Elk Meadows open. The building owners have the right to close it. There’s also not much that can be done to prevent its sale to Chateau Recovery Center or another business that might be authorized with minor amendments under the existing conditional use permit.“We’ve looked at every angle that we can. A lot of this falls under federal regulations, in which we have an opinion. … I think the representative’s bill is the right direction to tap it right now. It’s really slim out there as far as what we can do with some teeth in it,” Winterton said.A treatment center?Oakley officials are considering whether to make a minor amendment to the conditional use permit — converting the existing facility into a 56-bed treatment center for people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse or post-traumatic stress-related disorders. A recovery center is an allowable use in the zone.Yet Oakley residents are concerned about its proximity to the city park just across the street. Community members raised questions about whether children visiting the playground or families playing pickleball would be safe. Winterton explained that the Utah Department of Health and Human Services sets the regulations and policies for treatment facilities in the state, such as requiring the business to show what safety precautions it has in place. Utah House District 4 Rep. Kera Birkeland, center, and state Sen. Ron Winterton, who represents Summit County in District 20, hosted a town hall-style meeting in South Summit to highlight potential changes to state law in the wake of Elk Meadows Assisted Living & Memory Care’s forthcoming closure. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordWarner estimated around 80% of Chateau Recovery clients are first responders including people who have worked in police, fire or the military. He said it’s not a behavioral program and individuals with court orders are not accepted.Most people are more than 30 years old.All clients are voluntarily admitted for a minimum of 30 days and up to 90 days. Chateau Recovery focuses on individualized therapy that helps clients transfer back to a healthy life after discharge from the facility, according to Warner.The proposed facility also said it wouldn’t distribute medication much different from what was prescribed at Elk Meadows. For example, no opioids would be dispensed. Birkeland expressed some skepticism about whether that was true and wanted “gatekeepers” in place as well as improvements made to state law.Treatment centers can also receive preferential treatment under state law, meaning Oakley officials would need a compelling reason to deny amending the conditional use permit, though they could require additional safeguards.Oakley hadn’t made a decision on the request as of this week. There’s a 10-day window for an appeal to be made once a ruling is official. Kris Kellogg, a caretaker of a friend living at Elk Meadows, said she plans to file one.Broken heartsFormer Oakley Mayor Doug Evans, who now serves on the Planning Commission, said he was devastated to learn about Elk Meadows’ closure. He’s witnessed the facility go through a handful of owners.“They struggled from day one,” he said. “I can’t even begin to count the number of volunteers who have worked there and donated time to help all these people. I worked there. My daughter was an employee there. We’ve had friends and family there. It’s been a labor of love for over 25 years, and I feel terrible that they can’t make it work. But I do know every owner couldn’t make it work.”Evans said he was responsible for writing the original conditional use permit, which he thought was strict. He wanted to make sure whatever takes Elk Meadows’ place will be successful, safe and compatible with the community.Families of Elk Meadows residents said all they can do is hope for future legislation that helps others. Karen Lowry, of Kamas, holds a sign that says, “Save our grandparent’s home” outside of Elk Meadows Assisted Living & Memory Care in Oakley. Lowry’s mother used to live in this facility, and she said, “To put an older person away from their community is cruel.” Besides the immediate impact of a closure on the current residents, she is worried about what it means for those in the community who have started to plan where they may move when they are unable to care for themselves. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordNumerous caretakers who have spoken to The Park Record detailed the emotional and physical stress they’ve experienced as they attempt to find nearby facilities with quality care and beds available for their loved ones. Elk Meadows residents said they feel as though their homes and family are being torn apart, while others have experienced a decline in health.“[Changing state law] could be the kind of help that would help these seniors transition in a more peaceful way. I talked with a doctor who explained that for people with memory care issues, it really harms not just their mental health, but actually their life span goes down. I know that’s not good news, and I’m sorry. But when you have a memory care issue and you’re being moved two, three times within a year, the life expectancy is not as great. So, we want to be mindful of that,” Birkeland said.She hoped legislative research and the legislative legal counsel could provide a fair assessment of what’s happened to provide a “fresh, clean starting point for improvement.” Birkeland was optimistic her bill would pass in February and become effective by May 1.The post State lawmakers respond to Elk Meadows Assisted Living closure appeared first on Park Record.