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June 22, 2025

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8 Letters to Editor

Letter to Larry Hogan: Please Do Something about Peak Health Care in Chestertown

January 4, 2021 by Letter to Editor

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Dear Governor Hogan:

The Kent County Commission on Aging is extremely concerned about the quality and quantity of care at Peak Health Care of Chestertown, a long-term care facility with over 60 residents licensed by the Department of Health.

Statistics indicate that staffing levels there fall well below the recommended amounts, for both registered nurses and other health care workers. Their continued reliance on contract workers is an indicator that residents are not getting the continuity of care, informed by permanent staff who are familiar with residents’ needs.

In December a front-page story in The Washington Post focused on this facility, interviewing workers and describing some very disturbing findings:

Peak employees no longer get paid time off for major holidays

Supplies have been in such short supply that one Chestertown housekeeper went to Dollar General to buy bleach and laundry detergent with his own money

From July through September there was no hot water

The article explained that a private-equity firm purchased the facility in 2020. It indicated that there is little or no oversight of nursing home purchases, which can result in a rapid decrease in quality of care and patient safety.

We ask that the State provide more frequent and thorough inspections of these facilities in an effort to increase safety, ensure sufficient staffing, and improve care for the most vulnerable among us.
We appreciate your attention to this problem. We all have an interest in the quality of life for our seniors.

Muriel Cole and Carolyn Sorge
Co-Chairs
Kent County Commission on Aging

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 8 Letters to Editor

A Strategy, Not Resolutions by Craig Fuller Grading the Kent County Virtual Classroom: A Chat with Principal Mary Spiri

Letters to Editor

  1. Carol Casey says

    January 4, 2021 at 3:19 PM

    I thought that the name change would make no difference but was hoping I was wrong. Thank you for giving the appalling conditions at Peak the attention they deserve.

  2. Earl Runde says

    January 4, 2021 at 3:46 PM

    I recommend that you contact Teresa Carlilliano, Ombusdman for Upper Shore Aging, regarding this matter. Her phone # is 410-778-1182.

    • Tabitha Masten says

      January 4, 2021 at 11:39 PM

      Mr. Runde,
      Nothing is being done, including what’s happening at Resorts. Owners simply don’t care. I fear for your mother. She was ‘one’ of my favorites. I stayed as long as I could. Dedicated nurses risking their licenses, while the owners cash in… simply deplorable!

      • Gwen says

        January 5, 2021 at 11:33 PM

        Call OHCQ 1-410-402-8108.

    • Tabitha Masten says

      January 4, 2021 at 11:42 PM

      The ombudsman has been contacted by several employees at Resorts, yet NOTHING is done!

      Illegal staffing ratios covered up

      • Amy says

        January 5, 2021 at 5:22 PM

        The ombudsman probably won’t do anything to help the residents they are VERY tight with the administration there. I know from past experiences. You need to report them to the STATE!

  3. Meredith Strother says

    January 4, 2021 at 5:30 PM

    Peak employees do get paid for six major holidays per year which has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of resident care. Additionally, most nursing facilities in the state and elsewhere are short on in house staff, of which the void is filled by licensed, experienced agency staff. Please fact check before you allow slander.

    • Nancy Emerick says

      January 5, 2021 at 11:12 AM

      Meredith, you are correct. Finding and retaining staff in nursing homes has been even more of a challenge than it already was across America before Covid hit. No town is exempt, and it is especially challenging for small rural towns. It is shameful that the media doesn’t tell an honest story but continues to slant reporting to make the industry look pathetic. Most healthcare workers are dedicated, loving individuals who do the best they can for residents with the tools they have. With the past 10 months of Covid, all nursing homes have taken severe financial hits due to lost census revenues and new extraordinary expenses to handle infection control. Most are reporting significant losses despite Federal stimulus money which has been given to help keep payrolls and operational expenses covered.

  4. Ed Gordon says

    January 4, 2021 at 5:37 PM

    Isn’t there a local person, department or office that has responsibility for ensuring that nursing homes in the county provide adequate care for their residents? What do our commissioners do?

    • Ron Jordan says

      January 6, 2021 at 6:58 PM

      Our commissioners Ed, come on man. They can’t get themselves out of a paper bag. Jacob only worry was if Trump was going to be re-elected and you now know the outcome of that support or maybe he and Ronnie really want to use the Confederate Flag as a prop to tell the fine citizens of Kent County that they don’t care about what you think.

  5. Amy says

    January 4, 2021 at 6:10 PM

    Not surprising to me they were awful to deal with when my mother was a patient, tried to steal all her income, life insurance policies, etc. They don’t report falls. I know several people who have contacted the State about their family members having issues with them. Changing the name isn’t going to change how they operate! If you have a family member in there you better check in them and ADVOCATE for them!

  6. Barbara says

    January 4, 2021 at 6:52 PM

    For any living being to be treated or in in the case of Peak Healthcare not treated with the care and dignity a human being deserves is a disgrace.
    Governor Hogan needs to make a trip there unannounced on a weekend
    To see for himself.
    I did one shift for a agency back in early December and I was shattered.
    I could not believe the state of this place.
    It was heartbreaking to witness the lack of care.
    It was truly the worst day of my 40 year nursing career.
    I could never return there again.

  7. Sharon Truitt says

    January 4, 2021 at 8:13 PM

    Someone definitely needs to look out for those poor defenseless residents. With the pandemic came isolation from families and friends who care for them and speak up for them.

  8. Paige Morton says

    January 4, 2021 at 8:57 PM

    My Brother was at this facility for a few months, communication and his quality of care rated a fat zero.The managers made him miss three Doctors appointments and just left him to lay in unbearable pain. His family ordered a private ambulance service to get him to his doctors appointment and he was immediately admitted to the hospital. THANK GOD, he is now in another physical therapy facility and doing very well with no help from Peak Health Care. I hope something will be done to improve this awful place.

  9. Janice Dickson says

    January 4, 2021 at 9:12 PM

    This is too sad. Magnolia Hall was no great place. But compared to this renamed nursing home it was better. The very idea that a large private equity (PE) firm can come to Chestertown and flagrantly break laws is obscene. While contacting the governor may do some good, there surely must be some law enforcement with teeth that can come in and enforce how people need to be treated. Fines, yes, but a big PE firm can pay and pay while making no changes. Probably all the patients are on Medicare or Medicaid. So why should a big PE firm care about them!? The perfect example of people in the 1% discriminating against those who aren’t.

  10. Chris Atkinson says

    January 4, 2021 at 9:25 PM

    Please contact me regarding the care that my father received here in the months of September-December 2020. Missed appointments, bad food, poor care and not to mention the extreme lack of communication

  11. Susan Harr says

    January 5, 2021 at 12:17 AM

    Thank you Ms Cole & Ms. Sorge for drawing attention to the need for better care for our most fragile elders. I pray the governor responds swiftly to remedy this care facility.

  12. William Freeman says

    January 5, 2021 at 7:59 AM

    Hogan won’t do anything because this doesn’t get the right kind of advancement for his Presidential hopes in 2024
    This place is not a place to put anyone you LOVE for care. The health care in Chestertown is no where up to par!!

  13. Thelma Quinn says

    January 5, 2021 at 10:32 AM

    This place has been a bad place for many years back when it was Chestertown Nursing and Rehab my father was a patient there and I would love to talk to someone about the care he received needless to say he fell which resulted in his death. He may not have been someone to the staff and the owners of the facility but he was my FATHER !!

  14. Aleah Thayer says

    January 5, 2021 at 11:50 AM

    I can only speak on our personal experience with my father in law and shortly passed away after his stay at Peak Healthcare. His wife and son both felt that even though they were not medically experienced that they could care for him better than what he received at Peak Healthcare. The lack of communication is about as good as the care. The staff is rude and misleading with the condition of the patients. I had to threaten on numerous occasions to turn them into the board of nursing for the care and communication that was being received. Governor Hogan… Please shut this place down! During the time there was no hot water was during my Father in laws stay at peak. This is by any means acceptable!

  15. Kimberly says

    January 5, 2021 at 12:59 PM

    I was hired as a unit manager . I was fired for doing the right thing and bringing it to the attention of the new director of nursing .
    This place is dangerous .
    I’ll tell you more but you couldn’t handle it .

  16. Ave Jester says

    January 5, 2021 at 2:32 PM

    I worked at Resorts in Chesterton and I can say for a FACT that it’s horrible. The kitchen staff spent most of their time in parking lot getting high on drugs and / or having sex! I was fired soon after reporting this to kitchen manager. The patients were referred to as ” rich old white people” and much worse! I would NEVER allow a family member of mine to be put there😢😢

  17. Kelly says

    January 5, 2021 at 9:41 PM

    I am really concerned that many people have come forward about the lack of treatment at this facility for it only to be shoved under the rug. For those of you that have first hand knowledge of what has transpired in this facility I urge you to think about calling an investigative reporter maybe like 20/20. We need this to stop! We as citizens need to step up for others to make change! There is nothing better then some good ole fashioned reporting that goes nationally to get change.

  18. Dora Best says

    January 5, 2021 at 10:48 PM

    I don’t know much about nursing homes. However, my own experience with a family member who had to stay there a few years ago was, you still need to remain your family members caregiver and make sure you advocate for any family that has to be admitted to that type of facility. In reading other comments, I don’t think they are slandering anything, I truly think people are truly concerned about there loved ones. To even think that a patience could receive quality care in our current state of Covid is almost impossible. Don’t take the comments as slander, but rather as decent citizens who are facing, and dealing with this pandemic, try to figure our how we can improve the current state of not just nursing homes, but any and all situations that have affected us. This might include closing that facility so people in our community can be served better. I just don’t think wearing our emotions on our sleeves and perceiving family members concerned comments as slander is a way to go about resolving anything. Please keep an open mind when discussing those who are loved ones to family members in nursing facilities. We need all the advocacy we can get.

  19. RonJordan says

    January 6, 2021 at 6:52 PM

    As you two wrote this letter to Gov. Hogan,why didn’t you bring it up in the Legislative Zoom call this morning. This letter will be only read by the readership of the Spy. Maybe next time you address these issues maybe speak up to our legislative leaders, since they have the ear of the Governor, ya think?

  20. Ron Jordan says

    January 6, 2021 at 6:54 PM

    As you two wrote this letter to Gov. Hogan,why didn’t you bring it up in the Legislative Zoom call this morning. This letter will be only read by the readership of the Spy. Maybe next time you address these issues maybe speak up to our legislative leaders, since they have the ear of the Governor, ya think?

  21. Patricia Hughes says

    January 11, 2021 at 7:53 PM

    I am very concerned. I Would like to talk to someone. It isn’t just C’town, my boyfriend is in the Pines in Elkton and they are killing him!

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