For the second time this year, the state is attempting to shut down the Windsor Place personal care home in Ross.

Department of Public Welfare officials sent a notice July 23 that they would not renew the license of the 119-bed facility -- one of the larger personal care homes in the area -- following a series of inspections from March through July that showed "repeated violations and current violations." The department banned new admissions during an appeals period in which Windsor Place can continue operating.

Among the state's most serious allegations was that a staff member pushed a resident to the floor in a shower in May, causing a broken hip, and that the facility failed to promptly notify the welfare department of the incident. In another case, Windsor Place is accused of neglecting a resident's failure to eat and drink in March, so much that the person required hospitalization with signs of starvation and dehydration.

Matt Harvey, one of the administrators of a facility owned by his sister, Lynn Harvey, disputed the state's findings and said Windsor Place expects to win its appeal to continue operating. It has about 100 residents currently.

He said the state backed off of an attempt to close the facility in March after issuing a similar shutdown notice in January. Windsor Place made improvements early this year to satisfy state regulators' concerns about fire safety.

"This is the same situation in a lot of ways," Mr. Harvey said. "We have done everything they asked us to do, and every plan of correction has been put into place. ... To us, the case of abuse is devastating, but everything else they cited has been taken care of."

Welfare department spokeswoman Stacey Witalec said, however, that allegations of neglect and abuse, combined with lesser violations, cannot be ignored.

"There are serious health and safety risks," she said, "things that lead to questions about their ability to provide care."

Mr. Harvey said Ross police are investigating the incident in which a staff member allegedly caused a resident to fall and suffer a hip fracture during an argument between them in the shower. He said the employee, who was suspended pending the outcome of that investigation, has not been allowed back inside Windsor Place.

State inspectors maintain that the facility's administrators failed to immediately report the incident, as required, and failed to conduct proper criminal background checks on employees. Mr. Harvey disputed both assertions, which will be part of the appeal case heard by an administrative law judge. No hearing date has been set.