It's shameful


Bingo.

It's how that money is being used & being spent that is pathetic.

This places is a front--a dilapitated smelly old building posing as an assisted living facility in order to take the people's money and give them nothing but crackers to eat and no clothes to wear. Sick.

They get away with it because they can.

No supervision, no compassion...nada.

Shameful.

What can we do to get this place to clean up or shut down?

Naturally I want to see the place cleaned up and
run better. The point about "subsidies" concerns me.
I can't find any information that Ivy Ridge Assisted
Living gets any additional money except the funds the
government gives the residents, who, in turn pay the
home. I'm sure Mr. & Mrs. Lavin are making a good
dollar there but, I've never heard about any bulk
payments to any of these homes. Also, someone wrote
that the residents "wander around". That place is
not a "locked facility"....residents are free to come
and go at will. The question i would like answered
is where will these people go if the State of Penna.
decides to close it ? In this area I know of only
one Personal Care Home up on Green Lane. There are
several in Germantown and in West Philadelphia .
Will the people be given just a few plastic bags for
their belongings and placed in a van ? Yeah, that
sounds about right for the city's so-called "Human
Services" Department. Just look how they have "worked"
to protect "children at risk". I don't have much faith
in the city workers at all. I would hope that a real
church might get involved and assist the residents
with better clothes, etc. I'm sure Mrs. Lavin would not turn down anything she could maybe turn a buck
with or make herself look better. I DOUBT very much
that the State Of Penna. will close the Ivy Ridge
Home, now or in the future. While Mrs. Lavin
continues to appeal, the place will stay open.
turn down any help that might come her way.

Of course it's subsidized! Among other things, assisted living facilities rely on SSI and Medicaid.

And lest you think that it's a drop in the bucket, the average cost of a nursing home facility in PA is almost $6k per month - in this area, facilities tend to run about $8k per month. That's $100k per year. Most middle class people cannot afford these rates for very long. The nursing facilities bill Medicaid for the difference just like it was a doctor's visit (true, a lower rate but still a tidy sum). That's why the Lavins live in a $2 million home in Villanova. They are not relying on the limited incomes of their residents - they're relying on government subsidy. They just don't call it that.

To be even more clear, this facility is not a non-profit, it is organized as a for-profit venture. There is not the least bit of charitable motive.

And this is not an isolated case: according to the Inquirer, the State has closed THREE other homes belonging to the Lavins. This is the last one that remains open.

A couple more things - you took my comments out of context but I'll clarify both points. I did write that the residents "wander around" but I mentioned it in the context of not being appropriately dressed for the season, which absolutely is the responsibility of the facility. It is not a hotel. Most of the residents cannot function independently - thus, it is the responsibility of the staff to ensure that they are properly fed, clothed and given their meds. That's why they're there for goodness sake.

And as for lock down? You're wrong. The residents, under the regs, cannot come and go as they please 24/7. Again, not a hotel.

As for where the residents would go...? The City doesn't oversee these facilities, the State does (and the City doesn't "place" people here, usually the families do). As far as that goes, there's this great line in Gone With the Wind when Rhett says, "A cat's a better mother than you are." The idea is that it doesn't always follow that a bad something is better than anything. Folks in this home deserve better. There are 141 licensed Personal Care facilities in Philadelphia. Let's hope that among them, there is one whose management hasn't been taken to court for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (settled), back taxes (settled), failure to perform background checks (cited), fire code violations, health code violations, wrongful death, medical malpractice... as has the management of this one.

As for a church's assistance? I see where you're coming from but please. The management at this home is PAID to see that the people are provided basic necessities. I don't think it's a lack of "stuff" at the home - it's a lack of caring and basic decency.

I'm not going to argue this point anymore. I doubt there's a single one of us who would allow our loved ones to live under these conditions - why is okay for someone else's loved ones to? Again, keep in mind, we're footing the bill for many.

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www.taxgirl.com

The issue is supply and demand. If group homes were such a profit making entity, there would be more available and they would be of better quality. I have visited some homes run by NHS and they are very well run. NHS is a huge non-profit and also has some very big benefactors such as Wawa. Also, NHS treats the people living in their facilities as clients, but in return the client has to want treatment and have a sincere desire to participate in programs aimed at making them productive citizens. I assume Ivy Ridge is the "end of the road" in that when all else has failed, a person ends up in a facility like Ivy Ridge.

I'm not defending Ivy Ridge, I agree that the facility appears deplorable, but there are not many other options or the State would shut it down.

We Can Only Hope Something Is Done Or The Lavin's Are Forced To Close. These People Shouldn't Be In That Line Of Business.
God Will Be The Equalizer In The End.

Let's clarify a few things here.

(1) Ivy Ridge is licensed as a personal care home, not assisted living and not nursing home.

(2) Nursing homes cannot bill "the difference" to Medicaid for private pay residents. Most middle class people enter a nursing home as private pay (you have to have enough assets to pay for yourself for at least 3 months) and then switch to Medicaid coverage once their own assets are exhausted.

(3) Nursing home reimbursement rates from Medicaid are calculated using a very complicated formula, but in Philly average about $116 to $136/day. This is about 1/3 of the amount that a private pay person would pay.

(4) There is no third party reimbursement by Medicare or Medicaid for personal care homes in Pennsylvania. (see http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/disable/personalcareass istedliving/003670207.htm)

(5) There are currently 138 licensed personal care homes in Philadelphia with a total resident population of 3,413 (capacity is 4,788) Just under 1/2 of these residents are on SSI and it can be assumed that the $630/month they receive from SSI is all the facility receives for them.

There is no excuse for the conditions at Ivy Ridge, but let's not pretend they're getting lots of money from the federal and state governments to take care of these people. They're not. With that $570/month in SSI for each resident ($630-$60 that has to be returned), they have to provide food, utilities, round-the-clock staffing, transportation and insurance.

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Ivy Ridge calls itself "Ivy Ridge Assisted Living" in a number of promotional materials, even though they are incorporated as "Ivy Ridge Personal Care." The Inquirer referred to them as an assisted living facility. It's the same thing since the DPW does not really license "assisted living" in PA:

Re Medicaid and SSI, true, it's a little more complicated than how I presented it for purposes of this discussion, but there are a number of subsidies available despite the broad brush statement on the DPW web site. Assuming SSI, there are several supplements available for folks in a "nonmedical residential facility" or "personal care facility" which can easily reach $1400/month just in nonmedical benefits. SSI has a federal component and optional state component. And while Medicaid is not a direct reimbursement for a personal care facility, there is a procedure for determining eligibility for "Medical Assistance Financial Eligibility" (i.e. Medicaid) for "less comprehensive care, such as that in a personal care home" in PA.

And the middle class bit about private pay and Medicaid? This is part of what I do at my job. There's not a whole lot of private pay going on.

I said I was done - and this time, I really am.

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www.taxgirl.com

The Roxborough Home for Women is another assisted living/personal care home in the area. I am very familar with it. It is located on Leverington and Lawtons sts. Very nice, staff is excellent, and it is nonprofit.
Many people who are able to move out of Ivy Ridge are expected to move in to Rox. Home for Women.
Anyway, they do not get enough press but it is a great place to consider if you are looking for an assisted living/personal care home.

I know about The Roxborough Home for Women on
Leverington Avenue. I think it's a great idea to
place some of the women from the Ivy-Ridge Personal
Care Home there but, what about the COST to live
there ? As the poster says, it is non-profit but,
does that change the amount the person must pay
to live at RHW ? As we have stated before, some of
the people at the Ivy-Ridge Personal "Care" receive
small SSI checks or Social Security. Are those funds
enough to pay their room and board at The Roxborough
Home ?....and are there any openings ? Where are all
the so-called "Social Workers" we're paying ? You
don't hear anything about them at this time. Would
they allow their family to "live" at Ivy-Ridge ? Yes,
I saw some Social Workers mentioned in the Inquirer
series. What is being done to prepare these local
residents for a change ? This is difficult for these
older residents of the Ivy-Ridge.

The issue is supply and demand.


They're people, not Toyotas.