Future use weighed for Nazareth Nursing Home

The Catholic Health System is weighing the future of the former Nazareth Nursing Home building at 291 North St. It may be sold, or it may be used for a new program for care of the elderly.

The nursing home closed at the end of 2007 in compliance with a recommendation in a state study calling for reduction in the number of nursing-home beds in the Buffalo area. It was opened in 1946 by Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from Germany.

The building still houses offices of the Catholic Health System’s Continuing Care Division with about 50 employees.

The state’s Berger Commission which recommended closing the nursing home, also recommended that the building be used for a “program of all-inclusive care for the elderly” (PACE), said David Vitka, a vice president of Catholic Health System. As a PACE facility, skilled care would be provided to clients who were brought in from their homes for the day. A PACE facility is being established as part of a new development for the elderly at the former Our Lady of Victory Hospital in Lackawanna.

However, no funds are currently available for a PACE center at 291 North St., he said. A decision is expected by May on whether the Catholic Health System will continue to use the building or offer it for sale, he added.