Residents may have to move from Oakley assisted living facility and not everyone is on board

OAKLEY, Summit County — Discussions are underway to turn the only assisted living facility in Summit County into a rehabilitation center and not everyone supports the change.

According to a statement from the city of Oakley, the Chateau Recovery Center wants to buy Elk Meadows Assisted Living. The center wants to turn the building into a drug and alcohol treatment facility.

Melissa McArthur found out about it on Facebook. So, she and dozens of other families organized a protest earlier this week.

“I’m not the only one feeling this way … The community is still upset,” she said. “I can’t go anywhere today without someone saying ‘Melissa, there’s got to be something.’ And I’m like, ‘I just don’t know if there is.’”

McArthur said getting her father into Elk Meadows Assisted Living was hard enough.

“We never thought we’d have to uproot them again,” she said. “And now I feel like I’m having to do it all over again.”

She feels that it’s not right for her father and other Elk Meadows residents to have to leave the facility.

“This is wrong and … they were saying this is a place for vets,” McArthur said. “You know what, my dad’s a vet. We’ve got a Vietnam vet. We’ve got a marine.”

According to a statement from the center owners, its management team is prepared to help with relocation. We’ve reached out to Chateau Recovery Center for comment and have yet to hear back.