Nursing Home Closure Ordered After Resident Death

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — State health officials say a Windsor Locks nursing home will be shutting down following the death of a resident that is still under investigation.

The Bickford Health Care Center is scheduled to close on April 10.

Officials said staff members and residents’ families have already been informed. The 36 people currently living at the facility will be moved to other nursing homes before the facility shuts down.

State officials said the Department of Public Health is overseeing the closure, while the Connecticut Department of Social Services is handling financial matters related to the facility.

The nursing home has been under scrutiny since the death of a 93-year-old resident who left the building during the early morning hours of Feb. 8 and was later found outside in freezing temperatures.

Windsor Locks police said surveillance video shows the resident exited the building through a rear employee entrance around 1:50 a.m. Investigators later determined she had been outside for more than three hours before staff located her.

Police and state health officials continue to review the circumstances surrounding the incident as part of an ongoing investigation.