SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio doctor is scheduled to make a plea appearance in Municipal Court on Tuesday morning after a boarding home he owns racked up more than 50 violations.
The property, located north of downtown at 903 W. Craig Place, has repeatedly been inspected by San Antonio Code Enforcement officers. Efforts by the city to improve the property ramped up this spring.
“We expected them to quickly correct them. Of course, now it’s well past that, several months past, and unfortunately, those haven’t been corrected, so of course, we’ve had to issue many citations. We’re taking him to municipal court,” said Michael Shannon, Director of San Antonio’s Development Services Department.
The home’s owner, identified as San Antonio physician Dr. Federico Padua, did not respond to requests seeking comment sent via email and left at his home and his Southwest Side medical practice last month.
A woman working at the medical facility told KSAT that Dr. Padua would not be responding to KSAT’s request for comment.
He is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court Tuesday morning for a plea appearance on 22 citations, city records show.
Shannon described the citations as Class C misdemeanor criminal citations. Code enforcement officers are licensed by the state and have the legal authority to issue criminal citations.
Padua potentially faces fines well into the thousands of dollars if problems on the property have not been corrected by Tuesday, city records show.
San Antonio’s boarding home ordinance, adopted nearly a decade ago, established rules for homes giving care to three or more people who are elderly and/or disabled and not related to the property’s owner.
“They can be very vulnerable and if they’re not taken care of or provided that safety, it can go unsafe very quickly,” said Shannon.
Of the 10 licensed boarding homes in San Antonio, the property on Craig Place is the only one to receive any citations since the summer of 2018, DSD records show.
Violations pile up in 2022
Problems inside the boarding home on Craig Place came into focus this spring.
An inspection on March 8 found the home in violation for a long list of issues that included operating without a proper permit, residents not being given access to a phone with the required list of emergency numbers, and the facility not being free of insects, rodents and other pests, city records show.
The property was also cited after code enforcement officers found incorrect emergency evacuation plans posted in the home’s bedrooms and kitchen and determined that annual criminal background checks for staff were not provided.
Just over two weeks later, on March 24, a follow-up inspection found many of the same violations still taking place.
April 12, during a third inspection of the home, incorrect emergency evacuation plans were still posted, the property still did not have a valid permit, and was still not free of insects, rodents and other pests, city records confirm.
Two weeks later, on April 26, the owner was cited for not having a valid permit, having incorrect evacuation plans still posted, and for not maintaining a facility kept in good repair or one that promoted the health, comfort and safety of its residents, records show.
“Most of our owners, they want to provide that minimum and even higher level of safety than we prescribe. In this case, unfortunately, that’s not been the case that we experienced,” said Shannon.
KSAT Investigates has been by the home twice in recent weeks, and both times workers on site appeared to be correcting issues with the property.
A man who said he has done construction work at the property and has managed home care health businesses in the past told KSAT via telephone last week that he hopes to buy the home from Padua.
Appraisal records show Padua has owned the property since 2003.