The CUYAHOGA COUNTY NURSING HOME, at 2905 Franklin Ave., first opened in 1938 as an experimental shelter for relief patients who were permanently and totally disabled. BELL GREVE, director of the Cuyahoga County Relief Bureau, was aware that during the Depression, many ill and disabled persons lived under adverse circumstances in attics, cellars, and low-quality nursing homes. She persuaded the county commissioners to authorize the alteration of a county building for a home for the ill, aged and infirm. The staff adopted a policy of self-help and rehabilitation and stressed wholesome food, adequate vitamins, massage, and exercise. Physical, occupational, and recreational therapy were also essential in the home's pilot program for the chronically ill.
The county commissioners purchased the home's present structure, at 3305 Franklin Ave., in 1955; but the home did not move there until 1961 following the addition of a 4-story wing. Rising costs led to questions about the home's future, but in April 1990 the county commissioners voted to keep it, planning to expand services to increase revenue. In 1990 the facility was certified to receive Medicare payments in addition to Medicaid and private pay. As a result of a reorganization of the CUYAHOGA COUNTY DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES, a new Department of Senior and Adult Services was established in July 1992, and the home moved under its jurisdiction. In 1995 the 177-bed facility continued to provide rehabilitative care designed to help patients return to the community or improve their lives in the nursing home.
See also OLD AGE/NURSING HOMES