Marian Manor announces plan to close by fall

BRAINTREE -- Marian Manor, a nonprofit nursing home and rehabilitation facility that the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm have operated in South Boston for 70 years, will close this fall, the facility announced on May 14.

According to a statement provided to The Pilot on May 15, Marian Manor has spent the last decade in conversation with city and state officials, as well as private developers, to chart a course for the facility's future.

"We have been unable to create a plan that is financially viable given the challenges that all healthcare institutions currently face," the statement read, "including nursing shortages, skyrocketing real estate costs, inflation, and the growing demands for facility maintenance."

Marian Manor also provided The Pilot with a letter, signed by Marian Manor Administrator Kahoney Anderson, addressed to "Marian Manor residents, families, staff, neighbors, and elected officials." According to the letter, the Marian Manor Board of Directors unanimously voted to close the facility on May 10.

"Having exhausted every possible option," the letter reads, "we have made the difficult decision to close Marian Manor as the aging building has come to the end of its useful life."

The Carmelite Sisters hoped to replace or renovate Marian Manor, but could not find any grants or financial aid that would allow them to do so. Marian Manor notified the Massachusetts Department of Public Health about the closure on May 14. According to the statement, the closing process will take place over the next 120 days. Current residents of Marian Manor will be "relocated to another location of their choice," including a nearby facility sponsored by the Carmelite Sisters, by September. Marian Manor staff members will also be offered positions at other facilities sponsored by the sisters.

Marian Manor was opened in 1954 under the direction of Cardinal Richard Cushing, who invited the Carmelite Sisters to establish a facility in the former Carney Hospital building on Telegraph Hill in South Boston. It was named Marian Manor in honor of the Marian Year of 1954. Marian Manor offered short-term and long-term care for seniors, therapy for people recovering from surgery or illness, and pastoral care for people of all faiths.