SUNBURY — A routine inspection of a Danville personal care home led to its shuttering by the state Department of Public Welfare and the relocation of 20 of its 23 residents.
The Danville Manor, 11 Mill St., a home for the mentally disabled, was ordered closed June 1 after an inspection revealed 61 violations, said Stacey Witalec, spokeswoman for the department. Witalec said the home officially shut its doors July 3 after new homes were found for the majority of the residents who lived there.
Witalec said the violations ranged from inadequate staff training and qualifications to errors in medication administration and fire and safety issues, such as blocked doorways.
Fifteen of the 61 violations recorded were repeat violations at the home, Witalec said, which was why the department opted not to renew operator Joseph M. Gerst’s license for the home he operated for the past 10 years.
“As a result of repeated violations and current violations ... the department is not renewing your provisional license,” read a certified letter obtained by The Daily Item that was sent to Gerst from the department’s bureau of adult residential licensing. Reached Friday by phone at his home, Gerst, 63, of Lewisburg, conceded violations did exist, but said it was he who chose not to renew his license because of the cost of running the facility.
“Expenses were skyrocketing,” Gerst said. “And the money coming in was not increasing as costs were increasing.”
Gerst declined to discuss specifics regarding the home’s financial outlook.
The Danville Manor was operating under a provisional license due to past violations, Witalec said, which put it on a six-month inspection rotation.
Once the state ordered its closure, the manor’s 23 private-pay residents were relocated to other homes, save three who Gerst says remain The Danville Manor. Homes with three residents or less are not considered personal care homes, Witalec said, and thus Gerst requires no license.
“We help them find a new location and some people decide to go with family in other areas and some people decide to move out of the area,” Witalec said. “The department makes sure they have a place to go ... and we’ll do a follow-up with them to make sure the placement is working.”
In addition to the violations, the state is seeking $10,000 in fines from Gerst, which Gerst said Friday he was in the process of appealing.
Witalec said Gerst had not appealed the revocation of the license by June 10, the department’s deadline.
“We would not have been able to close the home had an appeal been filed,” Witalec said. “It would have operated on the previous license until a decision was made.”
Contradictions between Gerst and the Department of Public Welfare are not uncommon, Witalec said.
“What they forget is that there were 20-some people who had to move because of their inability to provide good care,” she said.
Gerst and The Danville Manor have come under fire in the past. It was in 2002 when Gerst sought to open a second personal care home in Danville at the former Elks building at the corner of Mill Street and Montour Boulevard near St. Joseph’s Catholic School. His proposal was denied.
At the time, residents opposed the plan based on how they said Gerst ran the Danville Manor, claiming residents there were poorly supervised and subjected passersby to lewd behavior.
The Daily Item’s archive, however, revealed only one incident at the home in the past seven years — an assault involving two of the home’s residents.
Though Gerst has admitted there were problems with inadequate staff training and clutter, he said there were no problems with resident care.
“I think you’ll find there was never a problem with resident care,” Gerst said. “All the residents here were very happy.”
The manor’s residents had become a familiar sight on Mill Street and throughout the Danville community, perhaps none more so than resident Bobby Combs, who could often be seen walking through town, joining the Danville Marching Band in parades and attending services at Christ Memorial Episcopal Church, 111 Pine Street, Danville.
“Bobby was always there every Sunday for both services,” junior warden Dave Peterson said. “He was always friendly, always polite, always thanking us for the service.”
Peterson said Combs’ absence has been felt for the past two Sundays, but parishioners don’t know what’s become of him.
“We would certainly like to know,” Peterson said.
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Violations, finances lead to closing of Danville Manor
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