Rockland County adult care home temporarily shut down due to numerous violations
GARNERVILLE, N.Y. -- The Rockland County executive is demanding a state investigation into a local adult care home.
Ed Day wants to know how conditions deteriorated to the point where local inspectors moved to shut it down.
"(There is) supposed to be a fire door right here, where we're standing. It's gone," said Fred Viohl, West Haverstraw's building inspector.
Viohl has written more than 40 violations this fall at the Garnerville Home, an adult care facility for people unable to live independently.
"Deplorable conditions, not only fire code violations, but health violations," Viohl said.
Violations including double occupancy in a single room, someone staying in a room closed due to a fire call, and resident belongings blocking safety exits.
Viohl found prohibitions on smoking are repeatedly ignored. After a fire alarm sounded earlier this week, a technician was supposed to service a panel within two hours.
"It's still, you see, in trouble mode, so nobody came," Viohl said.
The building inspector said the home operator failed to fix the issues. The whole ceiling is rotted away, so he has temporarily shut the place down.
"Any report I've done in the last couple of months, they've not complied," Viohl said.
Officials said the decision to suspend the certificate of occupancy was not made lightly, adding they understand they are disrupting the lives of 37 vulnerable adults who lived at the home.
Antonio Parrish is among those being relocated to other facilities.
"They told me yesterday they'd show up at 11 and take me where I need to go, and this place would be renovated," Parrish said.
Juan Ramos said his brother, a resident, is upset.
"He's telling me he's not going anywhere, he prefers to sleep on the street," Ramos said.
Viohl said the conditions forced him to take action.
"We saved a lot of lives here, by doing this," he said.
Officials from numerous state agencies visited Thursday. The place can't reopen until violations are fixed.
The manager at the home declined to comment.
The state Department of Health said in a statement that all residents will be transferred to other facilities, suited to meet their particular needs.
"The New York State Department of Health has made it a top priority to hold adult care facilities and their operators accountable for the quality of care they provide. The purpose and intent of the Department's regulations and processes is to protect residents and to ensure facilities and their operators are complying. Previous violations at Garnerville Home were found through the Departments inspections, but none of these citations rose to the level of imminent threat to the safety of the residents as have the most recently identified environmental and quality-of-care concerns. Due to the severity of more recent issues, immediate action was necessary which resulted in a suspension order being issued. The Department is actively working to ensure all residents are transferred to safe locations, consistent with their needs and preferences. As this is an active investigation, the Department cannot comment further at this time," the statement said.