New York law advises that nursing home owners have a “special obligation” to ensure the best possible quality of life for residents, by having enough staff to provide adequate attention and care, as well as good conditions for the thousands of older adults who live in this type of facility, but not all sites comply with it; some even neglect their inmates and subject them to inhumane conditions, defrauding thousands of families and taxpayers in the process.
This has just been revealed by the New York Attorney, Letitia James, after suing four nursing homes, where allegedly owners, operators and landlords of the homes “wove a network of fraudulent financial schemes”, with which they diverted more than $83 million, from taxpayers, violating resident protection laws and incurring in acts of negligence, humiliation, carelessness and avoidable damages against vulnerable adults.
“Residents of those facilities were forced to sit for hours in their own urine and feces, suffered severe dehydration, malnutrition and increased risk of death, developed infections and sepsis from untreated pressure ulcers and inconsistent wound care, suffered injuries that changed their lives due to falls and death,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in its complaint. “Due to understaffing, they were often unable to help residents with basic activities of daily living, such as helping to use the bathroom, getting in and out of bed, eating, and maintaining personal hygiene. Call bells were routinely ignored or unanswered, meals were not provided in a timely manner, and personal belongings including hearing aids, dentures were lost or stolen.
The homes under scrutiny, owned and operated by Centers for Care LLC, and Kenneth Rozenberg and Daryl Hagler, operating as Centers Health Care, are the Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing (Beth Abraham Center), in El County Bronx, Holliswood Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing (Holliswood Center) in Queens County, Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing (Buffalo Center) in Erie County, and Martine Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing ( Martine Center), in Westchester County.
“Nursing homes are meant to be safe spaces where the most vulnerable members of our community receive the care and dignity they deserve. Instead, the owners of Centers Health Care allegedly used these four nursing homes, and the vulnerable New Yorkers who lived there, to extract millions of dollars for their personal use, causing elderly residents and people with disabilities to suffer pain. , neglect, degradation, and unreasonable abuse, and even death,” said Prosecutor James, who urged those who have witnessed disturbing conditions, neglect, or abuse in any nursing home in New York, to report it and who revealed that they are conducting additional investigations at other nursing homes in New York.
“Instead of fulfilling their legal duty to residents to provide the best quality of life possible, the leaders of the Centers and their associates took every opportunity to put personal gain before care for residents,” added the head of the New York prosecutors, who also seek to prohibit nursing homes from admitting new residents until staff meet appropriate standards, implement financial control and health care control to disburse improperly received government funds.
The lawsuit, the result of an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), alleges that nursing home owners and operators took the more than $83 million in funds from Medicaid and Medicare to “enrich themselves and their families and business associates, rather than use the funds for their intended purpose of providing sufficient staff and necessary care to residents.”
Among the testimonies reported, the Prosecutor’s Office assured that an elderly woman fell out of her bed at Holliswood Center without receiving a medical examination or treatment or informing her relatives, who were denied access when visiting her, for which reason her daughter called the police, who with paramedics took her unconscious to the hospital, where they confirmed a brain hemorrhage caused by a traumatic impact that required emergency surgery. Another case notes that a man in the Buffalo Center’s dementia unit managed to leave the facility as a “zombie” and was wandering the street without staff noticing.
The 199SEIU union, which groups together health care workers, said it is urgent to continue investigations of nursing homes around New York, as vulnerable residents and caregivers who work in these institutions continue to provide care to residents in very difficult conditions, including severe understaffing and limited supplies.
“We hope this lawsuit results in an investment in desperately needed front-line care for our most vulnerable and elderly New Yorkers,” said Yvonne Armstrong, executive vice president of long-term care for 199SEIU, while warning that actions from the Prosecutor’s Office send a strong message to nursing home operators to provide the humane care that residents pay for and deserve. “As a health care union, we strongly condemn any nursing home operator in New York State who misuses Medicaid funds earmarked for resident care and adequate staffing levels.”
- Lawsuit against nursing homes in data
- 4 nursing homes in NY run by Centers for Care LLC are in the lawsuit filed by Attorney James
- $83 million would have been diverted from homes for personal enrichment
- More than 1,000 elderly, many Latinos, affected by the alleged fraud
- 448 elderly is the capacity at the Beth Abraham Center home in The Bronx
- 200 at Buffalo Center, in Buffalo
- There are 314 beds in the Holliswood Center, in Queens
- There are 200 beds at the Martine Center in White Plains
- Demand requirements
- Prohibit nursing homes from admitting new residents unless and until staff meet appropriate standards for sufficient care
- Require nursing homes to hire and pay for a financial monitor to oversee nursing home financial operations
- Require nursing homes to hire and pay for a health care monitor to oversee nursing home health care operations and ensure that resident outcomes are improved
- That the defendants fully return the more than $83 million improperly received as part of the funds diversion scheme
- Order all defendants, corporate and individual, to pay legal costs and reimburse the State for the cost of the investigation