Nov 17, 2002 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The city council is poised to implement new regulations that will allow the city health officer to inspect personal care homes. The guidelines will be presented during a special session Monday at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, when Councilman John Whalen will detail the specifics of the regulations and take public comment relating to the proposed guidelines.

“If you have a family member in a personal care home, if you are a worker in a personal care home or the administrator of a personal care home, come to this meeting,” said Whalen.

“The best way to make a proper ordinance is to have input from the people with the facts.”

According to Rita Bornstein, city health officer, three personal care homes operating within the city limits would be affected by the ordinance, if council enacts it.

The city at one time did oversee the inspections of personal care homes.

After a 1979 fire that killed 11 senior citizens living in a Franklin Avenue home, the city established an ordinance allowing for a health officer to enter the sites and conduct a review relating to the health and safety of the occupants and the home.

In 1999, after a lengthy legal battle with a personal care home owner, that council opted to repeal the ordinance, despite objections from the health board.

Since then, the state Department of Public Welfare has inspected the city’s personal care homes.

Bornstein said she wants the state to continue the inspections.

“I don’t think it’s worth it for three homes when the state is ready to impose new and more strict regulations on these homes,” she said. “One of our problems in the past is that the state never backed us up. It didn’t matter what we would find; (the state) would continue to issue licenses.”

Whalen said that after Monday’s session, he would incorporate any relevant information into the ordinance and then present it to the council for review at the December meeting.

While the board could implement the regulations after 30 days, Whalen indicated he would allow the draft ordinance to sit for 60 days to allow for further public review.

He said that in addition to input received at the public meeting, he would receive related written comments regarding the statute.

“I will not accept letters from the (newspaper) editor, letters to the (newspaper) editor or e-mails from people out of state (as input for the ordinance),” said Whalen.

He advised those remitting concerns to be specific and concise in their letters.

Correspondence can be mailed to Whalen at the municipal building.