Thunderbolt’s only nursing home to close doors in July

THUNDERBOLT, Ga. (WTOC) – There was a shock to over 100 people that live at the Thunderbolt Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Friday as the Georgia Department of Community Health (GDCH) says the facility will close it’s doors in a little over a month.

This is due to the center, also known as the Thunderbolt Care Center, losing eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid payments after violations of health and safety standards.

“We had no notice. Actually, none of the staff or management has even told us yet, officially,” says Sam Chandler, who lives at the facility.

Representative Jesse Petrea broke the news on his Facebook page, saying he had received communication from the Georgia Department of Community Health that the center would close. We reached out to the GDCH. A spokesperson for the agency says the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has found the center has “failed to substantially comply” with health and safety requirements. In Petrea’s Facebook post, he mentions deaths, failure to report physical abuse, unsanitary conditions, and more.

“In my opinion, it’s been fairly clean, conscientious, the staff has always been great. I can’t find anything particularly wrong with it, frankly,” Chandler says.

The GDCH says there’s about 115 residents at the facility that will have to relocate in just a little over a month. Chandler says he doesn’t know what he’ll do- or his neighbors, many of whom he says, may really have no other option.

“Physically, I can probably get by with it but financially I can’t. So this was an alternative and a good one at the time. But unfortunately, it’s not going to be available any longer,” Chandler says.

The GDCH says people that live at the center have until July 12th to relocate. The agency is recommending that people that live at the nursing home use online resources to find a new place to live, such as Medicare’s Care Compare website and Hospital Compare website.

Representative Petrea says anyone that needs help with the relocation process can reach out to his office as well by sending an email to [email protected].

We reached out to Thunderbolt Nursing and Rehabilitation for comment, but have not yet heard back. We were asked to leave the property on Friday while interviewing Chandler.

We are also working to learn more about the alleged deaths and abuse at the facility. We will provide updates as they become available.

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