OTTUMWA — A local nursing home is closing, but officials there said the transition for residents will be smooth.

Ottumwa Developments Inc. has made the decision to close Ottumwa Manor, located at 927 Pennsylvania Ave., effective Sept. 30.

“We’re in very good standing. We have all our licenses, [financially] we’ve never missed a payroll or anything,” said Ottumwa Manor Administrator Jo Broerman, “and no one [working here] has jumped ship.”

“They are not being closed down by the state,” confirmed Jeanne Yordi with the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. “They contacted us. This was their decision.”

The closure is voluntary, verified David Werning, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals.

In a press release, Ottumwa Developments, Inc. blamed a combination of Iowa’s low Medicaid reimbursement rate, rising costs and new, costly regulations for the decision. There are 45 residents.

Kim Huston, the assistant administrator, said some longtime nurses and other staff shed tears at the news of the closing; she’s been there 17 years, their cook has been there 20 years and Broerman has been with the company for 50 years.

Yordi said the Department of Elder Affairs has heard four nursing homes across the state make the same announcement this week.

She said some companies have found it cost prohibitive to update a 40-year old building like Ottumwa Manor to meet changing standards.

“There’s nothing wrong with this building,” she stressed Thursday. “Times are changing; long-term care is changing.”

Yordi said she didn’t want people to get the wrong idea when they see a state presence at the home.

“We’re here to help them, not to watch over what they’re doing,” Yordi said.

Werning, too, said the Department of Inspections and Appeals would probably have more of a presence at Ottumwa Manor for the next few weeks.

Yordi said she and the center’s staff are assisting residents and families in the search for another home that would be a good match.

Huston said they try to place residents not just in a place they’ll be happy, but also a place where it’s convenient for family to visit. That may be more challenging, she said, because she just got word that another southern Iowa nursing home is closing.