Dick Boswell, the administrator who twice pulled the troubled Lake View Manor nursing home from the brink of closure, has been fired.

“I wasn’t given a reason,” Boswell said. “I’m still kind of stunned. I don’t know what to say.”

He learned of his dismissal Sunday evening.

Boswell, 73, arrived at Lake View Manor, 3015 W. 31st St., in August 2001, shortly after state inspectors cited the home for 30 deficiencies and ordered a ban on new admissions. At the time, Lake View Manor operated as Colonial Manor.

With Boswell at the helm, Lake View Manor passed its next inspection with three minor deficiencies.

The nursing home’s troubles returned last year when a former director of nursing, Kim Lawing, filed an eight-page complaint with the Kansas Department on Aging. In it, she alleged co-owner Charles K. Pomeroy had taken over the home’s daily operations though he wasn’t a licensed administrator or a nurse.

Lawing’s complaint triggered a January inspection, which led to the home being cited for 28 deficiencies. Again, Boswell corrected the home’s shortcomings.

State officials were assured Pomeroy was not acting as administrator.

Contacted by the Journal-World, Pomeroy declined to explain Boswell’s termination.

“I don’t give out that kind of information on any employee,” he said.

But he confirmed Boswell was “no longer with us.”

Official complaint

Last month, Maureen Poull, also a former director of nursing, filed a three-page complaint with the Department on Aging, alleging:

l Pomeroy was running Lake View Manor.

“He is acting as administrator, absolutely,” Poull said. “He tells the state he’s not, but he is.” Pomeroy maintains a part-time residence at the nursing home.

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l The nursing home went several weeks without a director of nursing or a registered nurse on staff.

l Residents had been denied access to money in their petty-cash accounts.

l Employees were not paid for hours worked.

l On occasion, the facility lacked adequate medical supplies because Lake View Manor had fallen behind in paying its bills.

Poull said she was fired May 12 after she and Pomeroy argued over wages.

She defended Boswell.

“It’s sad that he’s gone,” she said. “He was loyal to the staff and residents, and they were loyal to him. I think you’re going to see a lot more turnover out there. Mr. Boswell was the one who kept the place together.”

Course of the future

Pomeroy dismissed Poull’s complaint, calling her an “unhappy woman.”

Asked whether he had acted as an administrator, Pomeroy replied: “Heavens, no.”

He confirmed Lake View Manor, which currently has 38 residents and 40 employees, had been without a director of nursing.

“But we’ve always been under state control,” Pomeroy said. “When we were without a (director of nursing), they knew about it. They said it wasn’t a problem as long as they were under proper notification.”

Pomeroy on Monday introduced employees to Boswell’s replacement, Susan Roberts, former administrator at Tonganoxie Nursing Center.

Boswell declined comment on Poull’s allegations against the nursing home.

Boswell said he was fired by Pomeroy and Pomeroy’s father, Topeka tax attorney Charles P. Pomeroy. The Pomeroys own Lake View Manor.

Residents’ family members contacted by the Journal-World also declined comment, citing the uncertainty of the future.

Trouble with credit

Robert Weiner, vice president in charge of investor relations with Gulf South Medical Supply, confirmed that his company had rescinded Lake View Manor’s line of credit.

“They are on a ‘credit hold’ with us,” Weiner said. “That means they haven’t paid their bill” for several months.

Weiner said the nursing home owes “in excess of $20,000.”

“Gulf South was our major supplier,” Poull said.

Pomeroy said Lake View Manor had chosen to quit doing business with Gulf South.

Records show that Lake View Manor has not paid its 2002 and 2003 property taxes: $26,276 and $24,847, respectively.

Department on Aging spokeswoman Karen Sipes declined comment on Poull’s complaint.

“We cannot acknowledge receipt of a complaint. That’s confidential,” Sipes said. Still, she noted that a department inspector visited Lake View Manor last week.

“That report is not back yet,” she said.

Deanne Bacco, executive director at Kansas Advocates for Better Care, said Boswell’s exit and Poull’s complaint raised several red flags.

“We are concerned,” Bacco said. “This is a facility that’s had a lot of turnover in recent years. This will only add to the anxiety level of residents and family members as to what’s happening out there.”