Julie Warner's grandmother lived for one year in the Van Duyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing.

“She’d be there in the cafeteria and there would be other people there. They would talk to the staff and they would be like, 'I know Laurel.' She was a certain type of personality that people recognized,” Warner said.

The nursing home has a one-star rating overall and two stars for staffing from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“It was the only place we could get her in because she had to come straight to the hospital. We weren’t super happy about that, but it was our only option, really,” said Warner.

Warner says her family tried to be at the home as often as possible, out of concern for the quality of care.

“It makes me really sad because not everyone has someone who can come in there and advocate for them,” said Warner.

When she saw the conditions her grandmother was living in, she started to ask people for donations.

First, Warner bought arts and crafts supplies for her grandma and others. Soon, family and friends started donating money for additional supplies, and buying products and sending them to Warner.

Warner dropped off the donations until 2020, when no one was able to visit.

“Those are lives and they’re just kinda setting them in a room and putting them away. Putting them on a shelf, you know? And those are people’s family members. And I don’t think it’s fair,” said Warner.

Warner’s grandmother left Van Duyn in early 2020 and died shortly thereafter.

Van Duyn responded Thursday, saying the pandemic led to difficulties for the nursing homes and that staffing challenges led to delays in care.

"Van Duyn plays a vital role in our community, as a safety net provider with a large population of medically fragile and complex individuals. There is nothing more important to us than the care and well being of our residents. Since the onset of the pandemic, our staff members have done the very best they could to provide prompt and quality care. Unfortunately, the pandemic caused unimaginable challenges to day-to-day operations for Van Duyn, and all nursing homes and assisted living facilities. COVID protocols caused residents to feel isolated, and significant staffing challenges lead to unavoidable delays in care.

"Currently, we are not accepting new admissions in order to ensure quality of care to the residents already in our facility. Not accepting new admissions at Van Duyn perpetuates capacity issues at Syracuse hospitals, which are currently on diversion. We, like all other skilled nursing facilities, need help and support from our local leaders during and after this pandemic."

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story included information on how to donate goods. However, this information was removed after a spokeswoman for the nursing home says the facility cannot accept donations due to the pandemic.