LAWRENCE COUNTY Hill View finances probe to end soon

The results of the financial audit will be turned over to the state police.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- An investigation into the finances of Lawrence County's nursing home should be completed this week, according to the county controller.
Hill View Manor's bank statements, checkbook and other financial records were turned over to county Controller Mary Ann Reiter.
"I think we have all the records we need," Reiter said Tuesday. She noted that the computer of the home's chief financial officer was also taken by her office for examination.
The finances came under scrutiny two weeks ago as county commissioners prepared to sell the home and nearby property to Sylvan Heights Realty Partners, a private group created for this deal.
Reiter questioned the whereabouts of money from a private-pay patient fund.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health halted the sale after state Rep. Frank LaGrotta asked for help.
"The secretary and the department's legal staff have serious concerns about the possibility of funds' being transferred from the private-pay residents' fund, as well as what the secretary described as 'apparently improper associations' between the principals of Sylvan Heights and those of Americare Inc.," LaGrotta said last week.
Americare Inc. of New Castle is the management company hired by the county to run the home. John Hadgkiss, one of the buyers, is affiliated with Americare.
2-step deal
Sylvan Heights Realty Partners had planned to buy the home and an additional 14 acres in a two-step deal that would have netted the county just over $1 million. The sale is on hold until Reiter finishes her audit of the financial records.
The controller was awarded a preliminary injunction last week in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court to inspect the bank records of Hill View Manor and Sylvan Heights Realty Partners.
Judge J. Craig Cox also ordered that Reiter be added as a signatory to the Hill View Manor checking account and that no checks be released without at least two signatures.
Reiter said she intends to turn over the results of her audit to the Pennsylvania State Police, as well as the county commissioners, state health department, Americare and Sylvan Heights Realty Partners.
cioffi@vindy.com