Representatives of the Savannah Court personal care home on Willow Drive in Greensboro and the Georgia Department of Community Health were in Greene County court Wednesday.
Savannah Court at Lake Oconee, a 72-bed facility, received a Notice of Intent to Revoke Permit from the state agency on Aug. 17. It was based on seven violations found over two days of inspections July 31 and Aug. 1.
At their appeal hearing Wednesday, both sides indicated to Judge Charles Beaudrot that they believed there was a last-minute agreement that would prevent the closure of the facility. They cited the problem that would be created by closing one of the few senior care facilities in the area.
The judge gave the group two hours to see what could be done but was skeptical, telling attorneys and a representative of Florida-based Senior Living Management, which operates Savannah Court, that their “track record is not good.”
No agreement was reached, so the hearing continued into the afternoon.
The personal care home’s troubling history first became public Wednesday in a scathing investigative story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Reporter Allie Gross found that, in the 3.5 years since Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill supported by elder care advocates and families, Savannah Court has been inspected “at least 16 times with 76 violations flagged.” Violations, according to the AJC, ranged from “smaller scale infractions like lack of nutritional snacks and failure to properly store cleaning supplies … to finally serious and imminent threats.”
A July 2022 inspection, as reported by the AJC, documented two deaths in April 2022 where the facility was found to have failed to adhere to state protocols. One involved the failure to provide CPR to “an individual facing cardiac or respiratory arrest,” the article said. The other involved diabetes complications during which the resident pressed their assistance pendant nine times in the middle of the night, with no response.
The article said, that according to a DCH investigation, the tally of 76 violations did not include an incident on Oct. 12, 2023, during which an 88-year-old resident said she had been assaulted overnight by another resident. The investigation specifically pointed out, according to the AJC, that the home failed to watch the 93-year-old alleged perpetrator who had “known hypersexual behavior.”
The Lake Oconee News has not independently confirmed allegations in the DCH reports cited by the AJC.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also called into question the toughness of enforcement by the DCH, indicating a series of small fines, favorable payment plans, and willingness to enter into settlement agreements.
At the Lake Oconee News’ deadline on Wednesday, no resolution had been determined.
CEO of Senior Living Management Uri Rubin was in court but would not comment on the case.
“We hope for a great outcome for both sides”, he told the Lake Oconee News.