Lawyer Denies Castro Valley Facility Abandoned Patients; Challenges State Complaint

The lawyer for the owner of Valley Manor Community Care Home in Castro Valley vehemently disagrees with a complaint from the Department of Social Services that forced the home to close last week.

The complaint asserted staff was not properly trained or background checked, the facility was dirty and in disrepair with rodent droppings in the food pantry and not enough food was suitable to eat.

Not so said lawyer Orrin Grover.

"What I saw last night was two full freezers, a full pantry, a full refrigerator," he said. "There's no shortage of food."

Grover went on to dispute the notion that residents of the facility were abandoned.

"They were absolutely not abandoned," he said. "The facility was properly staffed on Saturday and from the discussion I was having with folks on Saturday morning everything there was under control."

RELATED: Castro Valley Assisted Living Facility Shut Down, Patients Abandoned

The State Social Services shut down the Castro Valley facility on Thursday, but 14 elderly residents were still there more than two days later, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said patients at the facility were left with only a cook, a janitor, and a caretaker for two days. The rest of the employees left after the state ordered the facility to be temporarily shutdown.

In addition, the state Department of Social Services had posted a notice on the door stating that the facility was to be closed on Oct. 24. The sign on the front door read, "NOTICE: CLOSED FOR BUSINESS."

The patients were elderly, some bedridden or in wheelchairs, Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.

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