BETHLEHEM – The town of Bethlehem ordered the Albany Center for Independent Living in Delmar to close on Thursday, calling the facility “unsafe for occupation.”
The facility, located at 141 Rockefeller Road, is owned by a New Jersey-based company and previously operated under the name Kenwood Manor. Inspectors with the town’s Building Division evaluated the building and uncovered what they described as “serious violations” of the town’s building code that posed an imminent threat to the safety of residents and staff, including “structural issues, electrical issues, elevator issues, and mold infestation,” the town said in a news release.
Forty-five residents will be relocated to new housing with the assistance of the state Department of Health, according to the town.
Bethlehem Town Supervisor David VanLuven called the evacuation order “unprecedented” and said it was “not a decision that the town takes lightly.”
“The safety of the residents and staff is our top priority, and the for-profit owners of the building had allowed the facility to degrade to a state that is unsafe for occupation,” VanLuven said.
The 67-bed facility has a history of turmoil. It was sold to the New Jersey health care company Emerald Health Care Group last year. A previous owner, the Lutheran Care Network, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019. During the bankruptcy proceedings in 2020, a court appointed the Bronx-based Centers for Health Care as the facility’s temporary receiver, but the state Department of Health ultimately did not approve a permanent sale to the for-profit chain.
Under previous leadership, staff said they struggled to manage larger patient loads and were being denied vacation time. Employees held several public rallies in 2019 to protest austerity measures and low staffing levels that they said were forcing them to work frequent back-to-back shifts and overtime.
Following those complaints, Emerald Health Care Group acquired the facility and the 120-bed Delmar Center for Rehabilitation in a $7.5 million deal, the Times Union previously reported. Moshe Goldstein is the majority owner of the limited liability company that purchased the facilities, according to DOH records. Goldstein could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Reached by phone, Israel Wolofsky, the Emerald Group’s corporate counsel, declined to answer questions.
VanLuven said the town stepped in this week to shutter the facility due to mounting concerns about building safety. Bethlehem town attorney Mark Sweeney said the concerning inspections occurred in late August and early September. Building inspectors moved to shutter the facility and order remediation “based on the cumulative nature of the issues,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said he had not heard from Emerald Health, but that company representatives visited the site to meet with building inspectors on Thursday.
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This article originally published at Bethlehem calls Albany Center for Independent Living ‘unsafe for occupation,’ orders facility to close.