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Lebanon Daily News
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has notified American House that its license has been revoked, but the facility’s owners can continue to house current residents for the time being.
DHS officials said they found violations of state regulations during license inspections on December 19, 2023, February 27, and May 14 and 15, 2024. Due to the violations of state nursing home laws, DHS officials said in a certified letter that they are “revoking” the company’s current license.
American House’s license for the South Ninth Street nursing home has not been revoked, but DHS officials said they served the company with a non-renewal notice.
“The facility may appeal this notice and continue to operate during the appeal period. DHS will conduct monthly monitoring during this time,” said DHS spokesman Brandon Cwalina.
If American House does not appeal the non-renewal notice, the license will be considered revoked, Cwalina added. American House has 10 days to file a formal appeal with the DHS Bureau of Hearings and Appeals.
If the license is revoked, “DHS will work with the facility to ensure safe relocation of residents while respecting residents’ choices regarding where they wish to be relocated,” Cwalina said.
In the letter, DHS told American Health that the decision was due to “violation of Department regulations, gross incompetence, negligence, and failure to provide an acceptable plan to correct the violations.” However, the department did not ask the facility to cease operations in the letter.
American House has operated as a care facility for more than 35 years, primarily as an assisted living and senior living facility licensed for a maximum of 74 residents. According to a DHS license inspection summary attached to the letter, 35 residents are 60 years of age or older. At least 17 residents have been diagnosed with mental illness, 11 have mobility impairments and three have been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities.
Hotel Lebanon Corporation, which operates the American House, was operating on a third provisional license for 16 violations identified during three inspections in July 2023. DHS officials issued the facility its first provisional license in August 2022.
Owner comments
Luis Hernandez, owner of American House, told the Lebanon Daily News on Wednesday that he is appealing the notice, estimating that the appeals process could take at least four to eight months.
“Now that an appeal is pending, DHS cannot shut down the company until it makes that decision,” he said.
Hernandez added that he is considering offers to sell American House to a new owner. Although he did not disclose the name of a potential buyer, Hernandez said he would not challenge the DHS decision if another owner took over the facility. But while the appeals process moves forward, American House will not accept any new recommendations at this time.
DHS listed several repeated violations in the Aug. 2 notice, including fire evacuation policies and medication storage, recordkeeping and administration. Hernandez said most of the violations he was accused of were administrative in nature.
“It’s my fault because I’m the owner,” he said. “But it’s more administrative stuff and all these problems that we had. I think today we have everything under control. The reality is that there were things that kept hitting us and that’s why we have this, because my administrative people didn’t do their job properly.”
Hernandez said he recently fired a previous administrator and hired a new administrator with nursing home experience. If DHS inspectors visited American House today, Hernandez said, they would see that everything is up to code.
Residents can access the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Provider Directory at humanservices.state.pa.us/HUMAN_SERVICE_PROVIDER_DIRECTORY/ for more information on providers’ licensing status and inspection summaries.
Matthew Toth is a reporter with the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at [email protected] or on X at @DAMattToth..
