The Sandys Parish Rest Home has been closed down by the Ministry of Health and Family Services.

The rest home's dilapidated condition was the subject of a series of articles in The Royal Gazette this May as concerned citizens cried out for community support to improve living standards for the 11 seniors housed there.

In a statement released yesterday, the Health Ministry said the home has been closed for major refurbishment and will not be used in the same manner when these renovations have been completed.

"The action was necessary because the home, which has been taking residents for 25 years, required more work than normal maintenance, while the building was occupied, would allow," said the statement. The 11 seniors living in the rest home have been relocated to other long-term care facilities or other suitable accommodation, said the Ministry.

Sandys Rest Home is the first to close since the Island's new Residential Care and Nursing Homes Act came into effect at the end of June.

"The West Side Road building needs to be rewired, fitted with new windows, brought up to fire code requirement and made fully accessible to wheelchairs," the statement continued.

Alternative employment has also been found for all but three of the home's employees and the Ministry is working in cooperation with the Bermuda Industrial Union to place the remainder.

Following redevelopment, the home will be re-opened as an adult day care programme for 15 to 20 seniors, the statement said.

The home was closed at the end of July after suitable arrangements were made for those seniors in the home.

"It should be stressed that the Ministry of Health continues to be committed to providing first class services for senior citizens," the statement continues. Part of that commitment obviously must be to ensure that all the facilities used are up to standards required by appropriate authorities."

Regulations governing layouts and architectural requirements for homes were put into place by the Act and fines of up to $10,000 could be issued for homes which did not comply.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome ordered a survey of all the Island's rest homes on taking office in 1998.

The closure of the Sandys home means that two of three homes determined to be in the most serious decline have now been closed.

St. George's rest home was closed after fire and health officers determined it was uninhabitable in 1999.

The third, Pembroke rest home, is in better structural condition but it is in need of plumbing and flooring work.