General Content
The 1940s and the early 1950s saw the Lake Avenue Hospital endure the hardships of the War years and adapt to the changing needs of the community. Dr. Teresi's converted the hospital’s large two story former nurses’ quarters into an overflow ward. This ward led to the expansion of the hospital services into geriatric care. From 1951 until the closing of the hospital in 1962, geriatric health care would be a substantial part of the hospital’s medical services and financial viability.
The end for the Lake Avenue Hospital would come in the fall of 1961. Doctor Teresi fell ill on Thanksgiving Day and was admitted to The Genesee Hospital with acute stomach pains. He had suffered from stomach ulcers for a great many years, which prompted his post-graduate training in Gastroenterology. Charles Carmello Teresi passed away on 13 December 1961, at the age of 67 from a chronic duodenal ulcer and pyloric obstruction.
The remaining principle officers of 179 Lake Avenue Inc. transferred the property and equipment to Geri-Care, Inc. on February 1, 1963. The hospital would continue as the Charles Nursing home but never again embody the vitality and character of its past service to the community.
Rising Medicaid rates coupled with the multiplying cases of fraud prompted increased scrutiny and the tightening of restrictions by state and federal authorities over the management of nursing homes. By 1965, the facility had changed its name to the Elms Nursing home. Rising costs, aggressive competition, and constant advances in health care technology would become the Achilles heel for many smaller nursing homes. The Elms Nursing home closed in 1971. The buildings at 179 Lake Avenue remained vacant until their demolition.