Concerns about rest home get town’s attention

RHINEBECK, N.Y. » The town plans to ask for a state review of whether the 20-bed Kings Height Rest Home at 12 Loftus Road in Rhinecliff is providing proper oversight of its residents.

Several neighbors of Kings Height told the Town Board this week the facility apparently not complying with regulations that require supervision and care of residents.

“It’s gone from lack of supervisor to none whatsoever,” Joseph Meresca said.

“It’s sad to these men and women,” he said. “We have people who lie in the street in the middle of winter.”

Neighbor Richard Kopyscianski said one of the Kings Height residents lies out of the view of drivers.

“Laying in somebody’s yard isn’t bad,” he said. “When he lays along the edge of the street in the leaves, when you come over that hill after the train station, you don’t see him. It’s very, very dangerous.”

Several people said they have found residents of the facility exposing themselves and using the rear of buildings to relieve themselves.

A letter from Rhinecliff Fire Department Rescue Squad Capt. Rob Tourtelot said there have been some frightening interaction at his home.

“I’ve had a Kings Height patient come to my back door at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night while my wife and I were out and try to gain access to our house while a babysitter was here minding our two young children,” Tourtelot wrote. “She called 911, and he was picked up a few house over. He told the officer that the devil told him to come to our house. [Police] determined that he was schizophrenic and had not taken his medications.”

Tourtelot said his department called to the facility after a resident rolled out of bed and wound up face down on the floor.

“He was dead by the time we arrived,” he wrote. “No one at Kings Height even bothered to turn him over. They called 911 rather than look for anything obstructing his airway or even trying CPR or basic rescue breaths.”

Kings Height officials could not be reached for comment. The facility is operated by Rodante Beltejar of 60 Forest Drive, Parsippany, N.J., according to the New York State Department of Health.

Town of Rhinebeck Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said the concerns will be turned over to the town attorney and code enforcement officer.

Also, she said, “I have spoken with [state Sen. Sue] Serino’s office and was basically told that they way they are licensed, there doesn’t need to be anybody there. So it seems to me that they are accepting people to live there that shouldn’t be living there.”

“It’s sad to these men and women. We have people who lie in the street in the middle of winter.” — Joseph Meresca