County Agencies Assail Care Facility’s Closure : Health: Officials say the state shut down Holiday Terrace in Westminster without adequate time to relocate the 75 elderly residents.

Several county agencies complained Thursday that the state shut down a Westminster care facility without giving them time to relocate the 75 elderly people who lived there.

The Holiday Terrace at 7571 Wyoming St. was ordered to close Wednesday morning because investigators had discovered evidence of health and safety violations. Residents were transferred to other facilities or went home with relatives.

“I have no problem with the closure of this facility, but with the methods they used,” said Pam McGovern, director of the Orange County Council on Aging. “Residents have the right to make decisions and choices about where to move.”

“Many were in tears, confused and terrified at what was happening,” said Joe Lehosit, chief deputy of the county public administrator/public guardian office, which is responsible for finding homes for people who are wards of the state. “They were herded around like they weren’t people.”

Kathleen Norris, spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services, defended the state’s action. She said investigators visited the home last Friday and quickly concluded that it must be closed. Local agencies were notified as quickly as possible, she said.

“The clients were lying in urine-soaked clothing, in feces-smeared bedding,” Norris said. “It surprises me that (local agency officials) would have the gall to complain when there were such deplorable conditions.”

John Grant, a licensing supervisor with the Department of Social Services, said investigators took 20 photographs that documented soiled beds, clothing and rags. Investigators also discovered illegal restraint jackets and photographed one resident whose wrists were chafed from being tied up in a chair, he said.

Still, officials with the various county agencies said they should have been given more time to make arrangements for their clients.

“The thing that disturbs me most of all is that I had a meeting with the administrators to discuss my concern of exactly this sort of scenario several weeks ago,” said Douglas Barton, deputy director of the Orange County Mental Health Department. “And we were assured there would be some warning, some method to the madness.”

Barton, whose office is responsible for nine mentally ill people who resided in the home, said that relocating his clients normally takes one to two weeks.

“These are people who are not easy to place,” he said. “They can’t go anywhere and we like to ensure that the patient and his family (are) involved in the choice.”