DELMAR — Forty-five people must leave their apartments on Rockefeller Road by tomorrow after the town shuttered the adult facility for multiple code violations following an investigation into squalid living conditions and failure to provide food for residents.
“This action is not taken lightly and we are concerned with the residents,” Bethlehem Town Attorney Mark Sweeney said. “We want to respect the rights of the owners, but we have an obligation to protect the residents, and we have a job to do.”
At 2:22 p.m. Thursday, a town of Bethlehem building inspector served representatives of Albany Center for Independent Living (ACIL) with a notice demanding the facility be vacated by Friday at 5:00 p.m. and all residents relocated by then.
ACIL is a 67-bed adult living facility, according to the State Department of Health. ACIL did not respond to a request for comment.
Sweeney said the facility is being shut down for violations of the State Fire Code, the State Property Maintenance Code and various violations of the town code.
Violations involve many “smaller items” that alone might not rise to a level of concern, but collectively demonstrate the building is not safe, he said. He cited roof leaks affecting resident rooms on both floors of the two-floor structure, potential mold issues, stacked materials in stairwells in front of electrical panels, hydraulic fluid leaking from the building’s elevator, an insufficiently repaired leak in the kitchen’s gas appliances, and other code violations.
Residents will not be allowed to return to the facility until the building’s owners meet with a compliance plan, subject to the town’s approval, that will remedy each violation. Sweeney anticipates that could take at least a month, depending on the scope of repairs needed.
In the meantime, the town is working with state health regulators to relocate residents to facilities in the area that have space to accommodate them. Sweeney said the town’s senior services department is working with DOH to coordinate an orderly and safe transition for the residents.
Sweeney said under no circumstance will a resident “be out on the street.” “We want a safe transition for these people,” Sweeney said. If alternative housing still needs to be found for a handful of residents by tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. they will be allowed to remain in the facility until that housing is found.
A wiring panel at 141 Rockefeller Road in Delmar.
Town of Bethlehem
Sweeney was confident that the DOH would find temporary housing in the area for each resident. He recognized that relocation would disrupt residents, but said it was not safe for them to remain at ACIL. He said in speaking to residents, many are eager to have the repairs made and glad that the town and DOH is stepping in.
“The Department is coordinating with the facility, residents, families, and local partners to support a safe and orderly relocation consistent with the Town’s order,” said DOH Communications Specialist John Emery of the Public Affairs Group in a written statement. “Our oversight activities remain ongoing, and appropriate regulatory action will be taken based on those findings.”
Earlier this week, State DOH launched an investigation into ACIL after Bethlehem town officials filed complaints about poor living conditions.
The investigation, confirmed by town Supervisor David VanLuven, focuses on conditions found at the home after Bethlehem officials visited the facility last week in response to an Aug. 23 police call about a dinner meal not being served and earlier issues with an inoperative elevator.
Water damage at 141 Rockefeller Road in Delmar.
Town of Bethlehem
Emery said that DOH staff are on-site at ACIL and working closely with town and facility representatives.
“The New York State Department of Health takes the health and safety of adult care facility and nursing home residents very seriously,” Emery said.
Violations in years prior
The Lutheran Care Network operated the facility for years. That changed in 2019, when the organization filed for bankruptcy and ACIL and the neighboring Delmar Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing began operating under the Centers Health Care through court-appointed receivership.
Delmar AH Realty Associates, LLC and Delmar ASF Realty Associates, LLC are two of the Limited liability companies associated with New Jersey-based Emerald Health Care Group, which acquired both properties in July 2025 for just under $7.5 million, according to Albany County property records.
A resident council member, who has lived at ACIL for five years, said the owners let the building fall into disrepair.
In February, the facility’s operator agreed to pay a $3,000 civil penalty to avoid an administrative hearing stemming from an Aug. 15, 2025 inspection that uncovered numerous violations “which constitute ‘endangerment’” under state law, according to the settlement agreement.
Facility operators ultimately admitted to 43 violations pertaining to admission standards, resident services, food services, personnel, record keeping, environmental standards and disaster and emergency planning.
Days after the settlement agreement was finalized, the facility received four more violations related to admission standards, resident protections, and resident services, according to public records.
Town seeks to help
Sweeney said the closure decision came two weeks after the town was first alerted to an elevator issue. Since then, town officials made multiple visits to the site and discovered water damage, electrical issues and other code violations. Sweeney said it soon became determined that there was a system problem.
VanLuven said he learned of the building’s conditions when a town senior services department employee contacted him to describe what they found.
“What is happening there is deplorable,” he said. “No one should have to live like that. There are reports of bed bugs, mold, cockroaches, and meals not being served timely and safely and the kitchen not being properly maintained.”
He said he immediately met with Bethlehem Police Investigator Douglas Austin, Bethlehem Police Sgt. Dan Callahan, Assistant Building Inspector Steven Hummel and Senior Services Department Assistant Director Jennifer Casale, all of whom had been to the facility that week, to determine the extent of Bethlehem’s jurisdiction and what could be done.
Bethlehem Police Deputy Chief James Rexford said the department cannot comment on an open investigation.
VanLuven said the town’s jurisdiction is limited to building structural issues, but “we saw public health emergency issues.” He said Casale and Hummel had already filed complaints with the State DOH.
In her complaint, Casale said residents reported no hot water for 10 days, no toilet paper, and no dinner on Aug. 23. She wrote that Yoni Lautman, the administrator, told her the hot water was off for three hours, not 10 days; toilet paper was available and stored at the nursing home across the parking lot at 125 Rockefeller Road, and could be brought over upon request. As for the missing dinner, she reported Lautman said pizza was delivered to everyone.
On Aug. 25, according to Casale’s complaint, she visited ACLI again. Residents told her two rooms on the second floor leaked from the roof, one room had bed bugs and the kitchen had maggots. Casale then toured those rooms and the kitchen with Ombudsman Stephen Rainford, who was present and had room keys.
According to the complaint, that tour confirmed the water leaks. A maintenance worker was fixing the ceilings. In the room with the purported bedbugs, a worker said an exterminator was coming the next day.
As stated in the complaint, Rainford told Casale that the kitchen was locked and closed due to an old gas leak. He said meals were prepared at the nearby nursing facility, but unsure where they were plated. When they unlocked the kitchen, which is adjacent to the dining room, they saw “plates of food from lunch, flies, maggots on the floor, dirty utensils from lunch in the sink, and a chest freezer full of ice cream and food with a lid that did not close all the way.”
A maintenance worker said food is plated in that kitchen. Casale again spoke with the Lautman, who said the kitchen would be cleaned and Chinese food ordered for dinner. Casale also raised concerns about cleanliness standards and whether the Chinese fare would meet any applicable dietary restrictions.
Elevator out of order
On Aug. 16, the town’s building division was notified by the Elsmere Fire Department that ACIL’s elevator was not working. Assistant Building Inspector Steven Hummel said his department immediately began working to address the breakdown.
On Aug. 24, when residents complained they still could not use the elevator, Casale spoke to Lautman. He told Casale that town inspectors said residents could not use the elevator for 30 days. However, according to a document signed by Hummel, the facility’s Building Manager and Complex Manager, the 30-day period was for monitoring, not prohibiting use. Instead, the only limitation was not admitting new residents to the second floor and moving a second-floor resident with mobility issues to a first-floor room, if one became available. It concluded that if the elevator operated properly at the end of the thirty-day monitoring period, the town would consider allowing residents to return to the second floor.
Town keeps pushing for more action
On Aug. 26, VanLuven sent an additional complaint to Heidi Hayes, DOH Director, Center for Residential Surveillance, Office of Aging & Long Term Care, asking for an immediate investigation and action. He said Hayes responded immediately and advised that DOH will investigate. “They are working with our staff hand in hand,” VanLuven said.
VanLuven credits the DOH with taking the town’s concerns “seriously and responding appropriately and immediately.”
He also lauded the town’s police, building inspection and senior services departments for their “compassion and rapid response in a terrible situation.”
Moving is not an option for many residents. “If I move out of here and go somewhere else, it costs a lot of money, and I can’t afford it,” one resident said. “I think I’m stuck.”
Sweeney said he expects the owners to cooperate. “We don’t need their agreement to shut it down,” he said. But he hopes they will make the required repairs and, once having done so, will want to protect their investment by maintaining the facility in compliance with applicable codes.”
He acknowledged that the facility could take legal action to challenge the shutdown. But he warned if they do, “we will take appropriate action in response.”
“Everyone at the town just wants what’s best for the residents,” he said. “We are just trying to do our best to protect them.”
Chad Arnold contributed to this article.