Time is of the essence for 47 residents of a Silex 24-hour nursing facility set to permanently close.

Recently, residents got notification that the Silex Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, licensed for 60 beds, will shutdown on Aug. 31.

“We’re devastated to see another nursing home close. It’s especially hard to lose a vital part of a small community like Silex. A closure like this means many residents will have to move further away from their loved ones and that the community residents and staff built with each other inside the facility will be ripped apart,” said VOYCE Executive Director Marjorie Moore, whose nonprofit is dedicated to supporting nursing home residents.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirms a recent notification of the Silex facility closure as well as the review and approval of the closure, according to Lisa Cox, communications director. She said that federal regulations stipulate that residents are required to have a “60-day day notice of intent to close and assistance for those individuals to be transferred to a new community that can meet their needs.”

According to Cox, the state has had 14 residential care/assisted living facilities and five skilled nursing facilities close since July 2024, not counting the Silex location. Additionally, within the last year, nine residential care/assisted living facilities and one skilled nursing facility opened in the state.

“DHSS is receiving regular updates from the receiver and his team members on relocation efforts of the 47 residents…The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program has also had representatives onsite at the facility to speak with residents and facility administration. We know this is a difficult time for residents, family, and the employees,” Cox said.

Since the announcement of the closure, VOYCE has had ombudsman at the facility meeting with residents and loved ones to give information of resident rights such as choosing where to move to next. Moore says the nonprofit is also ensuring residents are treated properly throughout the remaining time the Silex facility is open.

While it is unclear the reason(s) the Silex location is closing, Moore says it is becoming more common for facilities like Silex to call it quits. One reason for other closures could be that the state has “one of the lowest payments for Medicaid residents per day in the nation, making it difficult for facilities to truly meet the needs of their residents,” Moore explained.

All the residents at the Silex Care Center receive Medicaid assistance.

“Another issue that leads to closures is that we have some owners in Missouri that will purchase a nursing home in order to get as many dollars out of the facility through related party transactions,” Moore noted. “The facilities are bled dry and sold to buyers who do the same, stripping staff and providing worse and worse care. In the case of a few of the facilities that closed last year, care was so poor that CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) stripped their funding.”

Silex Mayor Lynne Luckett says having the closure happen in her community is unfortunate all the way around but it’s the residents who lose the most.

“I am sorry to see it happen because of the displacement of the elderly people who have lived there and established friendships and now have to be separated from people they know,” she said

Silex Rehabilitation and Health Care Center will officially close Aug. 31. For assistance for long-term care, please call Voyce at 314-918-8222.