Pittsburgh, Pa.-Based Personal Care Home Set to Close Because of Funding Problems

Anderson Manor, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based personal care home for mostly low-income residents, plans to close by Oct. 31, because of what it calls a lack of adequate government funding, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "The financial pressures of serving mostly low-income seniors and the lack of adequate public subsidy ... are the primary reasons for closure of Anderson Manor," officials from Presbyterian SeniorCare, the not-for-profit organization that runs the home, said last week. The home receives about $29 per day in federal and state funding for about 75% of its 20 residents. According to Presbyterian spokesperson Joyce Wagner, that is less than half of what some studies have found to be the typical cost of care each day. After the home closes, residents will be relocated to a facility of their choice, and the home's 11 full- and part-time workers will be transferred to other jobs within Presbyterian SeniorCare's care network. State Department of Public Welfare spokesperson Jay Pagni said there are no indications that other personal care homes in the state will close because of low government payments. He added that the closing of Anderson Manor is "a business decision," saying that many other homes in the state continue to serve low-income seniors (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/27).