80 seniors scramble to find housing after Seattle assisted living facility announces closure

Kari Knudsen is 97 and was just starting to settle in at the Norse Home when she learned that she has to move, again. Sitting at a sunny table in her room across Phinney Avenue North from the Woodland Park Zoo, Knudsen said the only consolation is that they celebrated her good friend’s 103rd birthday before the news dropped Sept. 9.

“I’m so glad he had his birthday the day before we got the eviction notice," Knudsen said. "That sounds so awful to say, but that’s how it felt to us.”

Leadership at the Norse Home assisted living facility told residents it is ceasing operations by next June, to undergo a massive remodel. The closure has more than 80 residents scrambling for new places to live. Everyone is preoccupied, trying to figure out where to go. A few have departed already.

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Knudsen said she’s worried about the staff as well. After the announcement, “the servers were crying as they served us breakfast,” she said. “It was really sad, because they were hit even harder than we are. Because they’re losing their jobs when we leave.”

Knudsen said there had been talk of the need to update the facility, which opened in 1957.

“We all knew that the Norse Home was going to have to be remodeled,” she said. But “none of us thought we were going to have to leave. We thought we were going to be shuffled around within the building.”

In a letter to residents, Norse Home Executive Director Mike Martin said, “We know this transition will require all hands on deck for our residents and families.”

He said Norse Home will pay moving expenses and help residents find new facilities, and help staff find new jobs.

But housing consultants say the residents will not find many vacancies nearby, and many senior living facilities do not accept residents on Medicaid because the reimbursement rate doesn’t cover expenses.

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Lisa Satin said her phone has been ringing off the hook. She’s an independent consultant who helps seniors find housing in assisted living facilities, memory care facilities, and adult family homes.

She said Norse Home residents are upset to lose their community. Some residents “have tried to get together so they can move to the same place, which would be lovely," Satin said. "But everybody’s got different care needs and different income levels."

Satin said the Norse Home closure is part of a troubling trend: the loss of nonprofit, modestly priced facilities that don’t require a large upfront “buy-in” of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Very affordable, very good care, and beautiful views and a great neighborhood," Satin said of the Norse Home. "It was the whole package for almost 70 years.”

Satin said the 11 residents reliant on Medicaid will have the most difficulty finding new placements because many facilities don’t accept those clients.

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Norse Home has not disclosed the financial terms for new residents once the renovation is complete. Three years ago the Norse Home announced that it was becoming an “affiliate” of the Bellevue-based nonprofit Transforming Age, which owns and operates 47 senior living communities.

In his letter to residents, Norse Home Director Mike Martin said, “When Norse Home affiliated with Transforming Age, we agreed to make essential improvements to our aging building to sustain the Norse Home heritage and legacy into the future.”

Martin concluded by saying, “it would not be safe or healthy for residents to be onsite during construction.”

Kristen Crawford, a spokesperson for Transforming Age, said by email, “The timeline for the renovation is based on a variety of factors and unknown at this time. Our goal is to revitalize the existing structure without demolition and to preserve Norse Home’s nonprofit mission to serve seniors, as well as its heritage and legacy.”

Crawford also said, “Less than a dozen Norse Home residents are funded by Medicaid and we are working closely with case managers at the Department of Social and Health Services and the King County Area Agency on Aging to help find a new home for each resident, taking into account resident choice, care needs, and eligibility.”

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DSHS spokesperson Jessica Nelson confirmed that state caseworkers are assisting Norse Home residents receiving Medicaid.

She also said the facility exceeded state regulations for notification, which require just 30 days’ notice to move residents out during construction. However, state regulations also require notification of “the assisted living facility's plans for returning residents to the building.” The Norse Home’s announcement to residents said the Norse Home is “ceasing operations” next June and doesn’t discuss the future after the renovation.

Patricia Hunter is the state’s Long-Term Care Ombuds, with jurisdiction over the 57 residents of the Norse Home’s assisted living facility, but not over the remainder who have independent living units. Hunter said her office will send representatives to ensure that assisted living residents “are transferred or discharged in a safe and orderly manner.”

Hunter said in the event of a temporary renovation, Norse Home has a responsibility to “follow the state laws about residents returning to the building once construction is completed.”

Hunter added, “This is a vulnerable time for these residents. Transfer trauma can happen when a frail vulnerable adult is moved to a new care setting, especially if the care is substandard or less than what the person needs or is used to. Change can cause serious harm. We also know to look out for some bad players who are looking to move out low-income residents or challenge residents during a ‘renovation’ in order to bring a higher paying clientele.”

However, Hunter said her office can only advocate for resident rights. It is DSHS’ Residential Care Unit that has enforcement authority.

In the meantime, Knudsen said she’s on the waitlist at another facility and would like to stay settled at the Norse Home as long as she can, maybe through Christmas. It depends on how quickly other residents leave.

“I don’t want to be alone,” she said.