Garnerville adult home residents moved out; doors nailed shut as state continues probe

GARNERVILLE − The Garnerville Home for Adults was locked shut and all residents were relocated by Friday morning. The door on an annex, which appeared to have no lock, was secured by a single nail.

Garnerville, which has room to house 39 people, was ordered closed this week after its routine inspection by West Haverstraw turned up a slew of fire safety and building code violations.

West Haverstraw building inspector Fred Viohl yanked the Ramapo Road facility's certificate of occupancy earlier this week and alerted the state Department of Health.

Garnerville: Adult home shut down by state, West Haverstraw after slew of violations found

The state health department then worked to ensure residents were transferred to safe locations, consistent with their needs and preferences, Erin Clary, a department spokesperson, said. That process took a couple of days. Viohl revisited the site several times during the transition.

The state Department of Health concurrently issued a temporary suspension notice to Garnerville Home’s operators. An investigation continues to determine whether the department will permanently revoke the operating certificate, a state health department spokesperson said.

Adult homes, licensed by the state health department, provide support for people who cannot live independently due to physical, mental or other limitations. The state helped find alternate housing for the residents.

West Haverstraw Mayor Robert D’Amelio lauded Viohl’s actions. “When the building inspector brought it to my attention, I said, ‘Fred, do your job.’ “

Problems don't develop 'overnight'

The facility is owned by an LLC only identified in state records as Garnerville HFA Operation & Management. A man who village officials identified as the site manager Wednesday declined to identify himself or the owners and declined to answer questions.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day wants an independent investigation by the state Attorney General to see how the facility ended up in such deplorable conditions. “A facility such as this does not develop deficiencies overnight.”

Day wants the Department of Health to look at the past five years of violations, as well as what steps that department took to ensure they were remedied. The County Office of Building & Codes and Departments of Health and Mental Health offered support during the shutdown, Day said.

State records show 112 violations had been found during 22 inspections at Garnerville Home since 2019. “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,” Clary said.

The state health department investigation is ongoing, Clary said, so the department could not comment further.

The department in a statement added: “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.”

History of problems at adult homes

Garnerville Home is the second adult home in Rockland County to be forced to close this year. In January, the state closed the 79-bed New Golden Acres after violations were found at the Spring Valley facility, including vermin, poor care, and maintenance issues.

In June 2021, the New Village View adult home in Highland was also temporarily shut down for violations.

According to the state health department, no fines were assessed at the sites.

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The facilities are owned by the Schoenberger family, which also owns the former Evergreen Court Home for Adults in Spring Valley that burned to the ground in March 2021 during a fire that killed a volunteer firefighter and a resident. The Evergreen Court property on Lafayette Street is located blocks from New Golden Acres on Prospect Street.

Many of the former Evergreen residents had been relocated to New Golden Acres after the fire.

Evergreen's owners were not found responsible for the fire nor charged with any wrongdoing.

The owners have plans to rebuild Evergreen.

The licenses for all three facilities remain active.

Nancy Cutler covers People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Garnerville adult home residents moved out; New York continues probe