KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Residents at a West Knoxville assisted living facility said they received a letter telling them they would need to leave by Jan. 6, 2024.
Prosperity Pointe is an assisted living center that also provides memory care services, helping seniors living with dementia and Alzheimer's. According to the letter sent out on Dec. 6, it was listed for sale in 2023 and was bought by a "group of local individuals who agreed to take over the business."
Many people who live at Prosperity Pointe depend on benefits from social security programs. One of those people is James Stewart's sister.
"If you take out Christmas, New Year's — we don't have 30 days," Stewart said. "With the holidays here, worst time possible, you know. I feel, as far as morally, kicking these people out of this place to live."
Stewart said his sister has been living with disabilities for more than 20 years. She joined the workforce for a little while, but he said she's always had challenges. She used to live with their father and she's never been out on her own. After their father died, her siblings took over her care.
Stewart said this is not the case for everyone. Some people may not have anyone to advocate or take care of them. Many of them also struggle with disabilities.
"And it goes all the way up to, you know, dementia or Alzheimer's," Stewart said.
It's legal in Tennessee to give residents only 30 days of notice to move out of a facility.
Prosperity Pointe sent them a list of possible housing to help residents move out. But Stewart said the problem is timing and pricing.
"I'm going out this afternoon to put a deposit on a room for my sister at one place that Prosperity Pointe sent me information about," Stewart said. "The prices are, you know, a lot more expensive than Prosperity Pointe."
Information about the new owners of the facility was not immediately available. WBIR reached out to Prosperity Pointe about the letter but was told to instead speak with the new owners. Contact information for the new owners was not available, and the facility did not provide a way to reach them.
The letter showed the Prosperity Pointe letterhead and had a return address to Prosperity Pointe.
"The new owners have abruptly announced they do not see the business as viable and will be closing Prosperity Pointe effective January 6, 2024. All residents must secure alternate housing and will be discharged from Prosperity Pointe by this date," the letter said.
The letter says it is from Kelly Johnson Majors, the executive director of the facility. In it, she said staff at the facility would help residents and families move out of the facility and find different housing. It also provided a list of local assisted living facilities that accept CHOICES benefits, a Tennessee program providing benefits for adults who need long-term services.
"I am here to help as best I can. Please contact me with any questions," the letter says.
Knoxcare Properties, LLC purchased the property around two months ago.
Grayson Schleppegrell, attorney and representative for Knoxcare Properties, gave a statement about the letter and the purchase. It is available below.
"As I mentioned, this law firm represents Knoxcare Properties, LLC, the owner of the real estate used by Prosperity Pointe Assisted Living located at 214 Prosperity Road in Knoxville. Importantly, Knoxcare Properties does not own the assisted living business itself, only the underlying real estate. All decisions regarding patient care and relocation remain with the Prosperity Point business which is not affiliated with Knoxcare Properties.
I have reviewed the letter dated December 6, 2023 from Kelly Johnson Majors, MPH published on the WBIR webpage directed to the tenants of the Prosperity Pointe facility. Without engaging in a public line-by-line rebuttal of this letter, I will tell you that it contains inaccuracies. Any decision regarding patient relocation and timing has been made by Prosperity Point, not Knoxcare Properties."
The facility was previously fined and sued. It was fined $10,000 in 2020 after Prosperity Pointe signed a consent order saying it "failed to provide safety" for a man who died in November 2019. It said he was prone to falling and was provided a bariatric bed with an air mattress. Johnson Majors said in 2020 he was checked every two hours.
In November 2019, his body was found in his room. His head was stuck between the bed rail and the mattress, with his lower body on the floor, according to court records. Photos showed a "visible gap" between the man's bed rail and the air mattress.
In September 2023, it was also named in a lawsuit after a Knox County woman said her spouse died because he had dementia and drank detergent while living at Prosperity Pointe.
The lawsuit said Prosperity Pointe was negligent based on Tennessee law, and the assisted living facility showed "intentional and reckless disregard for safety." The family asked a jury to award them a sum of $9 million in the wrongful death case.
Stewart said there is another way to make a move like this, sell and relocate residents.
"It could have been handled in a more managed way, more compassionate way," Stewart said. "Two biggest holidays of the year. And now these people are scrounging to find a place to live. And employees are scrounging to find a job to have after the first year."