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State wants House of Hope closed
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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The House of Hope, 115 Illinois Ave., Youngstown.
By DAN POMPILI
The News Outlet
YOUNGSTOWN
The state has asked a judge to shutter the House of Hope adult- care facility and relocate its residents.
The Ohio Department of Health filed a request Tuesday with Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking a court order to close the facility on Illinois Avenue.
The filing comes on the heels of a Dec. 22, 2010, order from then ODH Director Dr. Alvin Jackson preventing House of Hope from accepting any new clients, an order the facility is still fighting.
“We will continue to fight anybody who tries to stop us,” said Hope owner and Director of Care Michael Binder.
Binder declined to comment further but said administrators were meeting to discuss the court filing.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a memorandum in support of ODH, requesting a preliminary injunction and an immediate hearing.
“The residents of House of Hope Center have a right to be in a facility that provides them with a safe and secure environment,” DeWine wrote in his memorandum. “The existence of the real and present dangers undermine the safety and security due these residents.”
After an investigation into a resident’s death and a site inspection that revealed safety violations, the Ohio Department of Health issued the letter that warned House of Hope that unless remedies were taken, the state would seek to close the facility.
The inspection had revealed “the facility failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of all residents when permitting residents to smoke cigarettes,” finding that residents smoked in non-designated areas, and one resident smoked and kept lighter fluid in his room.
The letter instructed House of Hope not to admit new residents, implement smoking policies, increase staffing and then submit a plan of correction by Jan. 5, 011.
A letter to the Department of Health from House of Hope’s attorney, James J. Leo of Galena, Ohio, asserted that his client had complied with all criteria, except hiring new staff and that the current staff met with Ohio Revised Code standards.
However, a Jan. 11 site inspection – just days after a series of stories by The Vindicator revealing troubles at the House of Hope – showed “conditions continued to exist that constitute a real and present danger to the residents,” namely that lighter fluid remained in the resident’s room and the facility still was not monitoring the residents’ smoking habits, according to the filing.
The early January series addressed Michael Lambert’s Nov. 11 death in a bathtub at the facility, and chronic unsafe and unsanitary conditions that have led to state actions against it in recent years, including a failed attempt to close the facility in early 2009.
Citing 18 specific violations — five relating to the death of Lambert — Tuesday’s filing also details new incidents at the facility.
On Jan, 9, a male resident assaulted a female resident, splitting her chin open, then stole her purse and fled the home. The state cited that as proof that inadequate supervision remains a concern.
On Feb. 1, Acting ODH Director Karen Hughes sent a letter to House of Hope Administrator Charlene Crissman notifying her of the state’s intent to revoke the license.
The letter advises House of Hope of its right to request an administrative hearing with ODH to dispute the revocation order.
The case related to Tuesday’s filing will be heard by Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Lou A. D’Apolito, who had taken no action as of late Tuesday.