Personal Home Healthcare and Hospice
A hospice in Blakely, Pennsylvania 18447
1715 Main Street, Blakely, Pennsylvania 18447. (570) 342-3314.
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The short answer
Record last released by CMS on Oct 23, 2026.
- 1 deficiency cited in the last three years
- Not rated family caregiver rating
- 6of 10 CMS’s Hospice Care Index
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean2
- Inspection (survey)
- A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
- Deficiency, citation, violation
- What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
What did inspectors find?
1 deficiency cited in the last three years
The middle of the 8 hospices serving ZIP code 18447 had 1.
The last inspection on record was on Dec 18, 2024: a recertification inspection by the state.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, Hospice ZIP Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
When those deficiencies happened
1 deficiency in 1 month of the last 36. Last cited Oct 2024. Most serious: Standard-level. The last 3 years, to Oct 27, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nov | Dec | ||||||||||
| 2024 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2025 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
Hover or focus a month to read it.
Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.
Each deficiency, as cited
Rule titles as CMS’s inspectors cite them, set in sentence case.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Oct 25, 2024: recertification inspection by the state1 deficiency
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Criminal background checks (42 CFR 418.114(d)(2))
The inspectors’ words, 525 words
“Based upon review of hospice policy/procedure, clinical records, personnel files, documentation and guidance from the Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Aging, and based on interview with the hospice administrator (Employee #5), the hospice failed to ensure a Pennsylvania State Police “Response for Criminal Record” (PSP criminal background check) was obtained in accordance with the requirements under the PA Older Adults Protective Services Act (OAPSA) for four (4) of seven (7) hospice staff members whose date of hire was after October 28, 2021. (Employees #2, #5, #6 and #8) Findings include: On October 25, 2024 at approximately 12:18 PM, review of the hospice policy titled “Personnel Records” revealed the following under “Procedure”: 1. The personnel record or personnel information for an employee will include, but not be limited to, the following: Criminal history check, if required by law. On October 25, 2025 at approximately 12:20 PM, review of the Older Adults Protective Services Act and Act 28 Summary sheet ( https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/aging/resources-for-aging-professionals/criminal-history-bkgnd-check.html ) revealed the following: Provisional Hire Period: The Act does allow for the provisional hire of an employee who requires only a PSP check for 30 days if the employee can provide proof they have applied for the background check. On October 25, 2024 at approximately 12:30 PM, review of the chaplain/spiritual counselor visit record revealed employee #6 provided spiritual counseling services between March and June 2024. Patient #1: On October 23, 2024 at approximately 2:02 PM, review of the clinical record revealed the medical director (Employee #1) certified the patient’s terminal illness on 10/02/2024. Patient #2: Between October 23, 2024 at approximately 2:20 PM and October 25, 2024 at approximately 12:36 PM, review of the clinical record revealed the hospice aide (Employee #8) provided aide services on 10/15/2024 and 10/17/2024. Patient #11: On October 25, 2024 at approximately 2:25 PM, review of the clinical record revealed the administrator/CRNP was assigned to provide skilled nursing services in August 2024 based on start of care assessment documentation dated 08/07/2024. Between October 23, 2024 at approximately 11:45 AM and October 25, 2024 at approximately 12:20 PM, review of personnel file documentation revealed the following: Employee #2: The medical director was contracted to provide physician services effective 06/01/2024. The PSP criminal history clearance report was obtained on 10/23/2024 which was more than 4 months after the contract date. Employee #5: The date of hire of the administrator/certified registered nurse practitioner was 06/18/2024. The PSP criminal history clearance report was obtained on 08/01/2024 which was more than 30 days after the date of hire. Employee #6: The date of hire of the chaplain/spiritual counselor was 03/06/2024. The PSP criminal history clearance report was obtained on 08/01/2024 which was more than four (4) months after the date of hire. Employee #8: The date of hire of the hospice aide was 09/19/2024. The PSP criminal history clearance report was obtained on 10/23/2024 which was more than 30 days after the date of hire. During interview conducted on October 25, 2024 at approximately 4:15 PM, the administrator confirmed that a PSP “Response for Criminal Record” had not been obtained in accordance with the requirements of the OAPSA for the above referenced hospice employees.”
All 2 inspections in the last three years
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 18, 2024 | Recertification inspection by the state | No deficiencies cited |
| Oct 25, 2024 | Recertification inspection by the state | 1 deficiency cited |
Is it certified?
- Medicare-certified hospice since Oct 2, 2015.
- Ownership: for-profit.
- No For hospices, home health agencies, hospitals and dialysis facilities, CMS writes deficiencies at two levels. Standard is the usual one; condition-level is the more serious, when a problem is serious enough that the provider doesn’t meet a whole condition of taking part in Medicare. Source: CMS, State Operations Manual. deficiency or CMS’s most serious finding: the place’s failure to meet a rule caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment or death to someone in its care. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 489.3. on record in the last three years.
CMS, Hospice General Information. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Has anything been proven against it?
- CMS doesn’t publish fines or other penalties for hospices, so none are shown.
- 0 deficiencies cited in the last three years came from inspections that included a complaint investigation.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Who does the caring?
- From Medicare claims (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024): 7.7 nurse care minutes per routine home care day, 3.5% of skilled nursing minutes at weekends and a visit near death for 75% of patients who died.
- Where its patients were cared for (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024): 89% at home, 11% in a skilled nursing facility.
CMS, Hospice Provider Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Measure | This provider |
|---|---|
| Nurse care minutes per routine home care day | 7.7 min |
| Skilled nursing minutes at weekends | 3.5% |
| Visits near death | 75.0% of patients who died |
Who owns it?
- Signal Pa Holdings, LLC owns 95% directly since Jan 1, 2019.
- 7 owners or officers are people: Gary Mcdonough (owns 5% or more through other companies, 95%); Gary Mcdonough (owns 5% or more directly, 5%); Francis Schell (other role (CMS gives no detail)); Mark Siderowicz (managing employee (on the payroll)); Judy Lee Longo (runs it (operational or managerial control)); Gary Mcdonough (corporate officer); Gary Mcdonough (managing employee (on the payroll)).
- No private-equity firm among the owners CMS lists.
- No real-estate investment trust among the owners CMS lists.
CMS, Hospice All Owners and Hospice Enrollments. Released Sep 29, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Organisation | Role | Share | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal Pa Holdings, LLC | Owns 5% or more directly | 95% | Jan 1, 2019 |
What do families say?
- CMS gives no family caregiver survey rating: “The number of cases is too small to report Star Ratings.”
- CMS’s Hospice Care Index: 6 of 10 (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024).
- 94.87% of patients were assessed on all seven of CMS’s measures at the start of care (Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025); 28.8% had visits from a nurse or social worker on at least 2 of their last 3 days (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024).
CMS, CAHPS Hospice Survey and Hospice Provider Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Measure | Rating |
|---|---|
| Family caregiver survey ratingCMS star rating from its survey of patients’ family caregivers, 1 to 5 | Not rated |
| Hospice Care IndexCMS’s Hospice Care Index, 0 to 10 (higher is better): a point for each of ten measures from Medicare claims on which the hospice meets CMS’s threshold | 6 of 10 |
How does it compare nearby?
- Of the 8 hospices CMS’s data show serving patients in ZIP code 18447, where this hospice’s office is, the middle number of deficiencies cited in the last three years was 1; this one had 1.
CMS, Hospice ZIP Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Place | Deficiencies, 3 years |
|---|---|
| Compassionate Care Hospice of Northwestern Pennsylvania, LLC | 0 |
| Home Health Care Professionals and Hospice | Not given |
| Personal Home Healthcare and Hospice This hospice | 1 |
| Residential Healthcare of NE Pa, LLC | 8 |
| Hospice of the Sacred Heart | 15 |
| Compassus - Allentown | 1 |
| Traditional Hospice | 0 |
| Allied Services Hospice LLC | 2 |
What the record doesn’t say
- CMS doesn’t publish fines or other penalties for hospices, so none are shown.
- Only complaints that led to a citation appear; complaints that didn’t aren’t published.
- CMS ended its Special Focus Program for hospices with serious problems on Feb 14, 2025, so no hospice is marked as one.
- Hospice quality measures have a gap from October 2025: CMS replaced its patient assessment then, and public results from the new one (HOPE) are expected around November 2027.
Sources
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice General Information (yc9t-dgbk).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice Provider Data (252m-zfp9).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CAHPS Hospice Survey (gxki-hrr8).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, QCOR hospice inspection reports (Hospice Survey Reports - Oct 2021 through Sep 2026.xlsx).
Released Oct 23, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice All Owners (e983965e-1603-4cb8-82b5-c40090e380d1).
Released Sep 29, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice Enrollments (25704213-e833-4b8b-9dbc-58dd17149209).
Released Sep 29, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice ZIP Data (95rg-2usp).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: CMS. CMS’s own record is on Care Compare. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Oct 27, 2026.
From the hospice
The public record above comes first. Anything the hospice adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.
Replies
None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the hospice will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.
Paid listing
None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the hospice”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.