UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549


                                  SCHEDULE 13D
                   UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
                                Amendment No. 2



                         Genesis Health Ventures, Inc.
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                                (Name of Issuer)



                     Common Stock, Par Value $0.02 Per Share
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                         (Title of Class of Securities)



                                   37183F-10-7
                 -----------------------------------------------
                                 (CUSIP Number)

                               Steve Chaiken, Esq.
                              Goldman, Sachs & Co.
                                85 Broad Street
                            New York, New York 10004
                                 (212) 902-1000

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            (Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized
                     to Receive Notices and Communications)


                                   May 6, 2003
                 -----------------------------------------------

            (Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

     If the filing  person has  previously  filed a statement on Schedule 13G to
report the  acquisition  that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing
this schedule  because of ss.ss.  240.13d-1(e),  240.13d-1(f)  or  240.13d-1(g),
check the following box |_|.

     Note:  Schedules  filed in paper format shall include a signed original and
five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See ss. 240.13d-7 for other
parties to whom copies are to be sent.

     *The  remainder  of this cover  page  shall be filled  out for a  reporting
person's  initial  filing on this  form with  respect  to the  subject  class of
securities,  and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would
alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

     The  information  required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be
deemed to be "filed"  for the purpose of Section 18 of the  Securities  Exchange
Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise  subject to the  liabilities of that section of
the Act but shall be subject to all other  provisions of the Act  (however,  see
the Notes).
 

                                  SCHEDULE 13D

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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 2 OF 7 PAGES
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 1.  NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS
     I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY)

          Goldman, Sachs & Co.
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 2.  CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP          (a)  [  ]
     (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)                                        (b)  [  ]
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 3.  SEC USE ONLY

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 4.  SOURCE OF FUNDS (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

          00
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 5.  CHECK IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO        [X]
     ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e)
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 6.  CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
          NEW YORK
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                           7.  SOLE VOTING POWER
  NUMBER OF                         0
    SHARES                 -----------------------------------------------------
BENEFICIALLY               8.  SHARED VOTING POWER
  OWNED BY                          5,075,073
    EACH                   -----------------------------------------------------
 REPORTING                 9.  SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
   PERSON                           0
    WITH                   -----------------------------------------------------
                           10. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
                                    5,075,073
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11.  AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

          5,075,073
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12.  CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES      [  ]
     (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)
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13.  PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)

          12.2%
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14.  TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

          BD-PN-IA
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                                  SCHEDULE 13D

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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 3 OF 7 PAGES
---------------------                                      ---------------------
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 1.  NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS
     I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY)

          The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2.  CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP          (a)  [  ]
     (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)                                        (b)  [  ]
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 3.  SEC USE ONLY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4.  SOURCE OF FUNDS (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

          AF;00
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 5.  CHECK IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO       [  ]
     ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e)
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 6.  CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION

          Delaware
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                           7.  SOLE VOTING POWER
  NUMBER OF                         27,500
    SHARES                 -----------------------------------------------------
BENEFICIALLY               8.  SHARED VOTING POWER
  OWNED BY                          5,075,073
    EACH                   -----------------------------------------------------
 REPORTING                 9.  SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
   PERSON                           27,500
    WITH                   -----------------------------------------------------
                           10. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
                                    5,075,073
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11.  AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

          5,102,573
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12.  CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES      [  ]
     (SEE INSTRUCTIONS)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13.  PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)

          12.3%
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14.  TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON

          HC-CO
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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 4 OF 7 PAGES
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                               AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO
                                  SCHEDULE 13D
                         RELATING TO THE COMMON STOCK OF
                          GENESIS HEALTH VENTURES, INC.


     The  Goldman  Sachs  Group,  Inc.  ("GS  Group") and  Goldman,  Sachs & Co.
("Goldman  Sachs" and together with GS Group, the "Filing  Persons")/(1)  hereby
amend and supplement  the statement on Schedule 13D as most recently  amended by
Amendment No. 1 thereto filed March 27, 2003 (as amended,  the "Schedule  13D"),
with  respect  to the  Common  Stock,  $0.02 par value  per share  (the  "Common
Stock"),  of Genesis  Health  Ventures,  Inc., a Pennsylvania  corporation  (the
"Company").  Unless  otherwise  indicated,  all  capitalized  terms used but not
defined herein shall have the same meaning ascribed to them in the Schedule 13D.

     This  Amendment No. 2 is being filed to report a decrease in the percentage
of the outstanding  Common Stock which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by
the Filing  Persons,  which change was as a result of an  agreement  between the
Company and Goldman Sachs regarding the sale of Common Stock by Goldman Sachs to
the Company.

------------------
     /1/ Neither the  present  filing nor  anything  contained  herein  shall be
construed as an admission that any Filing Person  constitutes a "person" for any
purposes  other than Section 13(d) of the  Securities  Exchange Act of 1934 (the
"Exchange Act").


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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 5 OF 7 PAGES
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Item 5 is hereby amended as follows:

ITEM 5.  INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER

     (a) As of May 6, 2003,  Goldman Sachs may be deemed to beneficially  own an
aggregate of  5,075,073  shares of Common  Stock,  consisting  of (i)  4,721,906
shares of Common Stock beneficially and directly owned by Goldman Sachs and (ii)
353,167 shares of Common Stock underlying 71,799 shares of Convertible Preferred
Stock  immediately  convertible and  beneficially  and directly owned by Goldman
Sachs,  representing  in the aggregate  approximately  12.2% of the  outstanding
shares of Common Stock  reported to be  outstanding  as of February 7, 2003,  as
disclosed  in  Company's  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q for the  quarter  ended
December 31, 2002 (the "10-Q") and in accordance with Rule 13d-3(d)(1).

     As of May 6, 2003, GS Group may be deemed to beneficially  own an aggregate
of 5,102,573  shares of Common  Stock,  consisting  of (i)  5,075,073  shares of
Common Stock  beneficially  owned by GS Group through Goldman Sachs as described
above, and (iv) 27,500 shares of Common Stock underlying immediately exercisable
Options,  representing in the aggregate  approximately  12.3% of the outstanding
shares of Common  Stock as  disclosed  in the 10-Q and in  accordance  with Rule
13d-3(d)(1). The Options were granted under the Company's 2001 Stock Option Plan
to Joseph A. Lanasa III, a Managing  Director of Goldman Sachs,  who is a member
of the board of directors of the Company.  Mr. Lanasa has an understanding  with
GS Group pursuant to which he holds the options for the benefit of GS Group.

     (c) On May 6, 2003, the Company and Goldman Sachs reached an oral agreement
pursuant to which the Company agreed to purchase  500,000 shares of Common Stock
from  Goldman  Sachs at a price of $14.84 per share.  The sale is expected to be
consummated on May 9, 2003.

     Except as described in this Schedule 13D, no  transactions in the shares of
Common Stock were effected by the Filing Persons, or to their knowledge,  any of
the persons listed on Schedule I hereto, during the past sixty days.


Item 6 is hereby amended as follows:

ITEM 6.  CONTRACTS, ARRANGEMENTS, UNDERSTANDINGS OR RELATIONSHIPS
         WITH RESPECT TO SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER

     On May 6, 2003,  the Company and Goldman  Sachs  reached an oral  agreement
pursuant to which the Company agreed to purchase  500,000 shares of Common Stock
from  Goldman  Sachs at a price of $14.84 per share.  The sale is expected to be
consummated on May 9, 2003.



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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 6 OF 7 PAGES
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                                    SIGNATURE

         After reasonable inquiry and to the best of our knowledge and belief,
we certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete
and correct.

Dated: May 8, 2003


THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC.


By: /s/ Roger S. Begelman
    ---------------------
Name:  Roger S. Begelman
Title: Attorney-in-fact


GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.


By: /s/ Roger S. Begelman
    ---------------------
Name:  Roger S. Begelman
Title: Attorney-in-fact


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CUSIP NO. 37183F-10-7                                      PAGE 7 OF 7 PAGES
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                                   SCHEDULE I
                                   ----------



     The name of each  director of The Goldman  Sachs  Group,  Inc. is set forth
below.

     The business  address of each person  listed below is  c/o Goldman, Sachs &
Co., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY  10004.

     Each  person is a citizen of the United  States of America  except for Lord
Browne of  Madingley,  who is a  citizen  of the  United  Kingdom.  The  present
principal  occupation or  employment of each of the listed  persons is set forth
below.


Name                                Present Principal Occupation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry M. Paulson, Jr.               Chairman  and  Chief  Executive  Officer  of
                                    The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

John A. Thain                       President and  Co-Chief Operating Officer of
                                    The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Lloyd C. Blankfein                  Vice  Chairman  of  The Goldman Sachs Group,
                                    Inc.

Lord Browne of Madingley            Group Chief Executive of BP plc


John H. Bryan                       Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                    of Sara Lee Corporation

William W. George                   Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                    of Medtronic, Inc.

James A. Johnson                    Vice Chairman of Perseus, L.L.C.


Ruth J. Simmons                     President of Brown University