By Shereen Siewert

WESTON — A Weston nursing home and rehab facility abruptly ceased operations Thursday, leaving 28 residents without homes and an unspecified number of employees without work.

Atrium Post Acute Care, 6001 Alderson St., is closing due to bankruptcy proceedings, local healthcare officials said. The former Kennedy Park Nursing and Rehab Center operates under the Atrium Health and Senior Living umbrella, a New Jersey-based company that operates 23 nursing homes and nine assisted-living centers primarily in central and northern Wisconsin.

Court documents filed in September allege that the companies operating Atrium Health and Senior Living facilities are insolvent and unable to service debt owed to the group’s major lenders. A Wood County judge agreed with the company and their lenders that Atrium’s companies should be put into receivership—a form of bankruptcy proceedings that allows a business to remain operational while debts are settled.

The company was hiring new employees and offering sign-on bonuses as recently as September, according to the Weston location’s Facebook page. But as of this week, Atrium can no longer meet its obligations or pay employees, officials said.

Most residents at Atrium are on Medicaid, complicating new placement options. But officials at North Central Health Care are reaching out to Atrium’s residents and their families to ensure their continued care.

“North Central Health Care and NCHC Adult Protective Services are committed to ensuring that all twenty-eight residents currently residing at Atrium Post-Acute Care in Weston will be placed in a new home, whether at Mount View Care Center or other placement in the community that best meets their healthcare needs,” said Jessica Meadows, communications and marketing director for NCHC. “We understand the hardship this can cause residents and families, and our team at NCHC will be working diligently to help ensure a smooth and safe transition throughout this process.”

Families can contact the Admissions Coordinator at Mount View Care Center by calling 715-581-3422.

Some Atrium employees say the news took them by surprise and they learned of the closure through Facebook or other social media. NCHC is one of several local facilities encouraging displaced employees to apply for open positions.

Calls and emails to Atrium were not returned Thursday.