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Choosing a lucky ducky

Maybrook carnival highlights progress

Mirror photo by Russ O’Reilly Maybrook Hills Rehabilitation & Health Care Center activities aide Jo Dennis watches as Jennifer Taylor of Altoona chooses a duck for a prize during the first annual Community Carnival Day sponsored by Maybrook Hills Rehabilitation & Health Care Center.

A community carnival at Maybrook Hills Rehabilitation & Health Care Center on Sunday was planned to help people move past the facility’s history as the Valley View Home and gain trust for the future, current owners said.

The hotdogs, hamburgers and all the sides were free — as well as the fun — at Maybrook Hills, 301 Valley View Boulevard. Elderly residents danced while children played games and were entertained by clowns and a magician. Mayor Matt Pacifico ate cotton candy as he and his family blended in with the dozens of people in the crowd. And it all played out under sunny skies.

“This is beautiful,” said Mary Dente, whose husband, Romeo Dente, lives at the home.

“It’s what they need to keep the place active,” she said.

Maybrook Hills, a New York company, took over the facility about a year and a half ago from Reliant Senior Care of Philadelphia after the state Department of Health found Reliant to be operating with a pattern of deficiencies in patient care, including dispensing or lack of dispensing medication.

Reliant had managed the home from 2013-16 after its affiliated organization purchased the facility from Blair County.

Maybrook Hills co-owner and regional administrator Yaakov Dorfman said the company stepped in and successfully fixed problems with a more hands-on approach than former ownership.

“Thank God, we’ve taken the facility a long way in a short time,” Dorfman said.

The Maybrook Hills ownership is involved in every level of the operations, said Dorfman, who drove four hours from the Jersey Shore to be at the carnival.

“When you see things first-hand, you see what the needs of the community and residents are,” he said.

The first annual Community Carnival Day was a success said Katie Brown, who brought her children out for a day of fun.

“The kids are having a great time,” Brown said.

Maybrook Hills employees volunteered to run the activities.

“This is to show how wonderful it’s been since the Maybrook takeover,” said clinical nurse liaison Crystal Burgoon.

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.

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