Back in 2013, the Blair County-owned nursing home Valley View was sold to Reliant Senior Care. After 2 years, a new owner is taking over.
It’s been 9 months since Valley View was able to accept new patients. Now they can, and they’re ready to fill their empty beds.
Reliant Senior Care took over in summer 2013 and by May 2015, they were banned from taking in new patients.
Gloria Smith, the nursing home administrator at Valley View, said, “There were so many deficiencies and there were care issues that were going on, no real processes put in place to fix the problems.”
Now, with new owners, they’re allowed once again to accept new patients.
Dr. Brett Scharf, Valley View’s Medical Director, said, “It’s been different. In the beginning it was rocky, when it was a county home, and improved dramatically. And then another company took over and there seemed to be a little dip in medical care and a new group came in and I’m excited about that and seems to be going in a positive direction like it has in the past.”
They’re currently caring for 153 people and have the space for 240. Their goal is to fill all of those spots as quickly as possible and provide the best care for their patients.
Mordy Lahasky, one of the new owners, said, “We’re really all doing the same thing. At the end of the day we have to take care of the residents who are really honestly the sickest and most neediest people in the population and everyone knows that. And my job is to make sure that everyone has what they need so that the residents are provided for.”
Filling those spots means more jobs at the nursing home. And, Valley View is once again working with local vendors, including Thompson’s Pharmacy. They’re also partnering with UPMC for their palliative care end-of-life fellowship, which means they’ll have medical students coming in beginning in July.