5 day forecast
Pennsylvania welfare department orders Armstrong County personal-care home to close
Share with others:
The Pennsylvania Department of Welfare closed an Armstrong County personal-care home Thursday and issued an emergency relocation order for its residents.
The welfare department had been watching Wofford's Cherry Lane Manor in Apollo "quite a while," spokeswoman Donna Morgan said today, as previous inspections found electrical and safety hazards.
Recent reviews by the department found unlocked poisonous material, smoking in the home, electrical violations and financial management problems, among other things.
The township has also withdrawn the home's occupancy permit, Ms. Morgan said.
She said her office was alerted of the order about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
The department was on a tight deadline Thursday to move the residents, Ms. Morgan said, "because we had a facility that is not safe for them."
The home is owned by Randy, Karen, Jeff and Nancy Wofford. They could not be immediately reached.
Each of the 19 residents had to be evaluated for their needs and are being placed in other facilities.
Nine of those residents were relocated to facilities in Armstrong County, seven moved to personal care homes in Allegheny County, two are staying with family and one other is living with a Wofford's staff member with permission from family, Ms. Morgan said.
Personal care home owners will likely lose their license following an emergency evacuation order, Ms. Morgan said, as was the case with William Garvin, who owned Liberty Manor Personal Care Home in Liberty.
Earlier this month, all 29 residents of that personal care home in Liberty had to move to other facilities when the welfare department issued an emergency relocation order after police found stolen medication and 238 coffee cans containing used syringes.
First Published March 15, 2013 11:20 am
