The Department of Human Services has denied an appeal by Victorian Manor in Lehighton to continue operation as a personal care home.

"Victorian Manor did appeal, but they did so late, so they did not get a hearing. Then they requested reconsideration from the secretary, which was denied. They may still appeal to Commonwealth Court, but have to close in the meantime," said Alison Gantz, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services."We will be sending them another letter giving them a drop-dead date on closure, probably April 1," Gantz said.The state last month ordered the personal care home to cease operations and relocate residents after it was charged with a number of violations. The personal care home had been licensed as an eight-bed facility.The home remains open. Owner and administrator Jennifer Bachert can choose to operate without the personal care home license and just have three residents.As of last week, five elderly residents remained lodged in the personal care home, which is under Bachert's direction.Bachert said, "The only reason it was late is because the DPW Scranton office came in to do an inspection, and told me everything was taken care of and everything was OK."So, when they said that, I didn't realize I still had to send it in."At least four of its then seven elderly residents have to find new homes, because Bachert failed to correct violations on time."Most of the violations are not factual," Bachert said. "Most significantly, please know that none of the violations against Victorian Manor pertained to the safety or welfare of its residents, or to the cleanliness of the home."I am confident that the courts will acknowledge that minor document and records violations are insufficient grounds to force our residents to move from the home they love," she said. "All of our residents love living at Victorian Manor, and their loved ones know that they are receiving warm and loving care."Burgess Lee Gordon Jr., a client at the home, said the administration at Victorian Manor is caring and compassionate.Gordon said the home is a "very good and safe place."Bachert related an incident when one of the residents left the personal care home."He spent the hour crying and sobbing," she said. "Six of my residents cried, three of my employees cried, because they felt they were losing (family)."Bachert vowed that the home will remain open with three residents and home care to supplement.She said all past violations have since been corrected.Matt Jones, director of human services licensing at the Department of Human Services, said last week that it has been over 30 days since the personal care home received the notice, which he said appears to be a reasonable amount of time."She only has to discharge two (residents), not all five," Jones said. "We're going to need to go out to see how many people are there, and from there, we'll determine what steps, if any, need to be taken. We need to verify how many people; we want to be sure the people are being discharged in an orderly manner to places that can meet their needs."BackgroundJones previously said the personal care home was placed on a provisional license from March to September 2014 because of violations. DPW conducted a renewal inspection in July 2014 and identified 43 violations, including 17 repeated violations.However, according to Bachert, of the 43 violations, only 19 were accurate. Additionally, Bachert said she corrected all the violations, only seven of which were not on time.Based on the inspection results, Jones said the department determined it could not issue another license, and so it did not renew the license in August.Bachert appealed but missed the deadline, Jones said. He said Bachert's subsequent request for reconsideration was denied by the Office of Hearings and Appeals a week earlier, and the closure order was issued Feb. 12.However, the state did not give Bachert a deadline for relocating the home's seven residents. She was told she could either appeal the closure to Commonwealth Court or forgo licensing and be able to house up to three residents.The Human services department has met with the Area Agency on Aging about the closure, and Jones said they are "ready and willing to help."Bachert believes she's being targeted by the state because for one year, until December 2013, she managed a troubled care facility in the Lehigh Valley. She opened Victorian Manor in 2010.She said she tried to correct the problems at the large Lehigh Valley home, but was limited because she was not the owner. Trying to juggle both that job and Victorian Manor caused her to lag in meeting the state's requirements for the Lehighton home, she said.Bachert said she corrected all the violations, but it was not until November 2014 when everything was finished, which was later than the date she'd told the state she'd have it all done."The state cares about paperwork," she said. "We care about people."