Company purchases eight locations from Lakeview

EFFINGHAM – A company called NeuroRestorative has acquired eight locations from Lakeview, the embattled residential care provider. In all, the "programs" purchased by NeuroRestorative have 54 beds.
"Last week, NeuroRestorative, a leading provider of community-based, post-acute brain injury rehabilitation services, acquired eight programs formerly operated in New Hampshire by Lakeview," said Sarah Magazine of The Mentor Network on Jan. 6. "While we did purchase a program based in Effingham, this change in ownership does not affect the Lakeview NeuroRehabilitation Center Americana II program, nor the program often referred to as 'The Mountain.'"

The Mentor Network is national network of health and human services providers. It is the parent organization of NeuroRestorative. Magazine is vice president of external affairs for The Mentor Network and she handles their media relations.
The programs that NeuroRestorative purchased are located in Effingham, Freedom, Ossipee, Farmington, Wolfeboro and Belmont. Magazine listed the former Lakeview "programs" that NeuroRestorative acquired.
• Thompson House, in Freedom, has capacity to serve five individuals.
• Freedom House, in Freedom, has capacity to serve serves five individuals
• Eden Farm, in Farmington, has capacity to serve serves three individuals.
• Eagle Trace, in Wolfeboro, has capacity to serve serves three individuals.
• Victorian House, in Ossipee, has capacity to serve serves eleven individuals.
• Wentworth House, in Ossipee, has capacity to serve serves eight individuals.
• The Meadows, in Belmont, has capacity to serve 16 individuals.
• The Rye Field Apartment program, in Effingham, has capacity to serve three individuals.
Magazine did not disclose the sale price.
A press release on NeuroRestorative.com says on Dec. 29, it acquired Lakeview NeuroRehabilitation Center Inc., Lakeview Care Partners, Inc., and Lakeview At The Meadows Inc. Those entities will now operate as "NeuroRestorative New Hampshire."
"We are pleased to expand our services in New Hampshire by welcoming Lakeview, a provider of care to individuals challenged by brain injury, into the NeuroRestorative family," said NeuroRestorative's president Bill Duffy. "Throughout and after this transition, we will continue our commitment to providing individualized community-based care and rehabilitation options to children, adolescents, active duty service members and veterans."
Problems at Lakeview have made headlines recently.
A few months ago, Gov. Maggie Hassan ordered New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to engage a team of experts to conduct a review of Lakeview after the New Hampshire Disabilities Rights Center lodged a complaint against Lakeview. Hassan also barred the state from placing new patients at Lakeview.
"The review found that chronic and acute staffing deficits; not maintaining proper levels of supervision at all times; admitting residents with a higher level of acuity than the facility can effectively handle; deficiencies in training, communication, crisis management and program oversight; and lack of a robust quality improvement function have contributed at times to problematic incidents and 'bad outcomes' for program residents," states a press release from the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lakeview was to submit a corrective action plan by Dec. 31 and that was done. Marilee Nihan, deputy commissioner for N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, said the department has received the corrective action plan on the due date and is evaluating it now.
"We are on track with them," said Nihan about Lakeview.
When asked if Lakeview's sale to NeuroRestorative had anything to do with Lakeview's problems with the state, Magazine responded by saying, "As part of our mission to serve, serve well and serve more individuals in community-based settings — ensuring they have the opportunity to live fulfilling lives as independently as possible in the communities of their choosing — we regularly talk with other providers who are interested in becoming part of NeuroRestorative."