Judge upholds order closing nursing home

An administrative law judge has issued a final order upholding DHEC’s emergency suspension of Peachtree Manor’s license to operate.

The residential care facility on Greenbrier Mossydale Road in Fairfield County must remain closed, and its owner, David Donnelly, has 30 days to appeal.

The emergency suspension began after more than a dozen residents were removed from the facility March 28 when the state Department of Health and Environmental Control’s inspectors found the home didn’t have medications for some patients.

Most patients are now at Trinity Place, a residential care facility in Sumter.

Administrative Law Judge Paige Gossett’s order says: “The court finds that the health and safety of the residents at issue imperatively requires that they be housed elsewhere. ...”

In a separate legal proceeding, DHEC revoked Donnelly’s permit to operate in 2006, but the facility was allowed to stay open during an appeal.

Gossett announced last week that she was going to revoke the license in that matter and is expected to issue a final order soon.

— Lee Higgins