NEW CASTLE, PA. Jameson residents endure flood

Heavy rains July 27 caused sewage to fill a personal care home.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- For Mel Smith, there's no place like home.
The 94-year-old New Castle man, along with 33 others, was displaced from Jameson Place, a personal care home affiliated with the Jameson Health System, on July 27 after the home was damaged by 2 to 3 inches of raw sewage that flooded all the first-floor rooms and hallways.
Smith and the others, ranging in age from 88 to 100, have been living on the fourth floor of Jameson South, the former St. Francis Hospital on the city's south side, while the personal care home on Wilmington Road in Neshannock Township is renovated.
"We didn't expect to stay here this long," Smith said. "We don't have the facilities here we have at home. I've just got a 10-by-14-foot room, but it's the next best thing I could get."
Officials at Jameson Care Center, a nursing home that includes Jameson Place, are hopeful the residents will be back in their apartments by Christmas, said Kenneth Garver Jr., administrator.
The facility was cleaned immediately, but raw sewage seeped into walls, furniture and carpeting and required far more extensive work.
Garver said they are replacing drywall, baseboards and carpeting throughout the first floor. The elevator was also affected when the sewage damaged the control panel.
Flooding
Heavy rains July 27 caused sewage to back up through shower and sink drains, he said.
"Not only did sewage come up, it shot up like little geysers," Garver said.
He said 2 to 3 inches of waste was in every room and the hallway of the first floor in less than two hours.
Residents were evacuated, and some were taken out in wheelchairs with their feet in the air to avoid the mess, in less than an hour, Garver added. Most went to live with family, but some stayed with Jameson employees Cosimo Bulisco, Sandy Black and Debbie Taylor.
About a week later, Jameson officials were able to prepare the fourth floor of Jameson South for the group. Furniture from the upper floors of Jameson Place adorns the sitting and television room, and residents were able to take some of their belongings. Most have rocking chairs in their rooms in addition to the standard hospital bed.
About 20 of the residents are living in the hospital, four others are still with family members and the rest have moved to other facilities.
Same care
Residents continue with their daily activities at the temporary facility.
Last week Delores Lockley and Charlotte Benninghoff, both 95, were going out for a country drive with Black, a personal care assistant.
"We don't notice too much of a difference living here," Lockley said. "I get the same good care. The same girls are here."
Garver said all Jameson Place employees are working in the new location.
The residents have a private dining room in the first-floor cafeteria, as well as an activity room and sitting rooms on the fourth floor.
"If anything, this situation really points out the benefit of being part of a health system," Garver said. "If we were a stand-alone, I don't know what we would have done."
Garver said they are still investigating why the sewage backed up. Jameson Care Center, which is connected to Jameson Place by an enclosed walkway, was not affected by the sewage backup problem.
cioffi@vindy.com