Reported by: Bill Price
Photographed by: Eric Clajus
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
On Friday the owner of the 70-resident facility in Price Hill was arraigned on a criminal count of severe building code violations for the alleged "poor conditions" in the home.
Sixty-one-year-old Abe Fischer, of Indian Hill, was charged with at least 27 building code violations by Cincinnati building inspectors.
The owner of the recently raided Westside Health Care Nursing Home and Terrace Assisted Living facility has initially pleaded not guilty to criminal building code violations.
The violations include rooms without smoke detectors or hot water available, toilets that don't flush or leak, as well as doors and windows without locks.
Facing a criminal building code violation, he was released after posting 10% of a $1,000 bond.
But on the same day the owner of the Price Hill nursing home was arraigned on criminal code violations, there's new information the home may be harder to shut down than first thought.
That may be due in part to the fact most of the facility's residents don't want to leave.
Just over a week after the Westside Health Center nursing home and the adjoining Terrace Assisted Living facility were raided by Cincinnati police, the Cincinnati fire department along with city building and health as well as state authorities, there's word repairs are being made.
Back at the nursing home, 9News could only see a full parking lot Friday.
9News also got word that problems inside the building with leaking toilets and faucets are finally getting fixed.
The Council on Aging spokesperson Laurie Petrie tells 9News, "We have had some people out there and what they've told me is [repairs are being made]. One report says one bathroom was entirely gutted to replace all the fixtures, I guess, in the bathroom. It looks like work is being done."
That's a far cry from what police and other building, fire and health inspectors reportedly found at the nursing home last week, when the facility was raided.
"Deplorable" and "filthy" were words used to described what inspectors found.
Petrie says, "They're all doing well, but I must say they're quite anxious about the situation, since they don't want to leave."
"This is their home. It may not be the most wonderful place, but it is their home," said Petrie, "and there are not a lot of other options for them."
Repeated requests for an interview or information from owner Abe Fischer or his attorney have gone unanswered.
9News even visited Fischer's Indian Hill home a second time, but were asked to leave and told not to bother leaving a business card for a call back.
Meanwhile, other authorities, such as the Ohio Department of Health, say their investigations into conditions at the nursing home are continuing.
That means more violations or charges could be possible.
In the meantime, Fischer is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on his criminal building code violations on April 4.
