STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Camelot of Staten Island says it plans to reopen Amethyst House -- Staten Island and New York City’s only women’s sober living facility -- after it closed in February following allegations that medications went missing, behavior was erratic, a death was mishandled and trust was lost.
The news comes on the heels of an Advance/SILive.com story about the shuttering of the more than 40-year-old safe haven for women seeking sobriety in which multiple whistleblowers told a reporter in exclusive interviews the alleged details that led to Amethyst House’s closure.
Luke Nasta, CEO of Camelot, told the Advance/SILive.com, that on April 13, the 10-person Amethyst House board of directors elected four Camelot board members before unanimously resigning themselves, leaving the newly elected members to govern the facility.
The newly elected board will help facilitate the reopening of Amethyst House, which Nasta said will occur as soon as it is adequately staffed. Camelot currently offers a full range of drug treatment programs on Staten Island, including intensive male residential, young adolescent residential and outpatient services across three locations.
AMETHYST HOUSE’S CHANGE OF BOARD MEMBERS
Ruth Mingoia, chairperson of Camelot’s board of directors, and Carol Lombardo, then-president and board member of Amethyst House, signed a Letter of Intent (a non-binding agreement), dated April 13, outlining the plans for the new governance structure.
“Once the proposed change of control occurs, the new Board of Directors of Amethyst House will be able to exercise control over the governance and business operations of Amethyst House, with the goal of making Amethyst House operational again, under its same name and mission as currently in place, and with opportunities for future success,” the Letter of Intent stated.
Nasta said the next steps will be to conduct interviews to re-staff Amethyst House. Both Camelot staff and former employees of Amethyst House will be able to interview for positions.
“I assured [former board members] that I’m moving forward, not backward. We’re going to move forward and open that program, and it will be a model program in the state. And Marilyn Cole, the woman who founded Amethyst House, will not be forgotten,” Nasta told the Advance/SILive.com.
“This is a perfect match for Camelot, because we’re in the process of opening the treatment program for 25 women and children on the campus of SeaView Hospital. Amethyst House is a reintegration facility; it’s a safe haven where women are given time to re-acclimate into the community. So, it’s perfect. Once the treatment program is operational, and women successfully complete it, we can transfer the women to Amethyst House,” he added.
Evan Frost, state Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) spokesman, told the Advance/SILive.com that his agency “is aware that Amethyst House and Camelot have had preliminary discussions. OASAS has not received a formal application, therefore we have no additional comments.”
Before Amethyst House can reopen, an application must be filled out to transfer its operating certificate to Camelot, and it must be approved by OASAS.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESIGNS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF MISSING MEDS, TRAGIC DEATH
An investigation into staff and resident allegations of mismanagement under Executive Director Angela DeSanno led to Amethyst House’s closure in February 2022 and the resignation of DeSanno -- who took the organization’s helm in February 2015 -- according to OASAS.
However, DeSanno told the Advance/SILive.com in an interview earlier this month that she retired, and the timing is coincidental and not related to the closure of Amethyst House.
Frost issued the following statement to the Advance/SILive.com earlier this month: “Allegations of this nature are investigated by the Justice Center. OASAS does monitor and work with programs during and after an investigation to ensure patient safety. In this case, following the findings of the investigation, OASAS communicated with the Board of Directors at Amethyst House about the seriousness of the allegations, and the executive director chose to resign.”
Frost continued, “All patients at this program have since been moved to other programs, and we are working with Amethyst House to determine the next steps, including the possible transfer of the program’s operating certificate to another provider. There is no time frame on when this may happen.”
FORMER EMPLOYEES, RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT
Angry about the fate of Amethyst House, five former employees and one former resident spoke exclusively to the Advance/SILive.com about what they say was happening inside the Port Richmond building for years before action was taken.
New York State Justice Center spokeswoman Christine Buttigieg confirmed to the Advance/SILive.com that the Justice Center conducted an administrative investigation into allegations of missing medication, erratic behavior from DeSanno, and the death of a 27-year-old resident, but declined to elaborate.
The Advance/SILive.com obtained a recording of DeSanno -- taken while Amethyst House was still open and she was still serving as executive director -- speaking to an employee, during which she admitted that medication was missing from the facility and she intentionally didn’t get board members involved.
“I’m very concerned about the medication, because we would all go down,” DeSanno is heard saying on the recording. “Because I’m supposed to tell them, and they’re supposed to investigate and I didn’t do that.”
When the Advance/SILive.com questioned DeSanno in an April 2022 interview about the alleged missing medication, she disagreed with that claim and said, “There was never medication missing. I find it strange they would say that.”
Amid other concerns and stresses in the house, sources said the handling of a tragic death in July 2021 added to an already untenable situation.
The 27-year-old woman, a resident at Amethyst House, was found dead in her third-floor bedroom.
“We weren’t able to properly grieve; it was really hard,” another source said, adding that DeSanno promised she would bring in a grief counselor, but never did.
DeSanno later told the Advance/SILive.com that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was the reason grief counselors were not able to come into the residence.
Read the Advance/SILive.com’s full report here.
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