AG James Suing Nursing Home Owners, Operators

WHITE PLAINS, NY — New York state is suing the owners and operators of four nursing homes — including one in the Hudson Valley — for financial fraud and resident neglect.

Attorney General Letitia James said the nursing homes are owned and operated by Centers for Care LLC, doing business as Centers Health Care.

The homes are Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, a 448-bed facility in Bronx County, Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, a 200-bed facility in Erie County, Holliswood Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, a 314-bed facility in Queens County and Martine Center For Rehabilitation for Nursing, a 200-bed facility in White Plains in Westchester County.

James’s office said residents at these facilities were forced to sit for hours in their own urine and feces, suffered from severe dehydration, malnutrition and increased risk of death, developed infections and sepsis from untreated bed sores and inconsistent wound care, sustained life-changing injuries from falls and died.

Following an investigation by the AG office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the lawsuit claims that the nursing homes’ owners and operators converted more than $83 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds to enrich themselves, their families and business associates through an elaborate network of related companies and collusive, fraudulent transactions rather than use the funds as intended for providing sufficient staffing and required resident care.

To stop further harm and suffering, James is seeking to prohibit the nursing homes from admitting new residents until staffing meets appropriate standards, to implement a financial monitor and a health care monitor and to disgorge any and all wrongfully received government funds.

She said that nursing homes are meant to be safe spaces where the most vulnerable members of the 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, leading to elderly residents and those with disabilities suffering unconscionable pain, neglect, degradation and even death,” James said.

In the lawsuit, Attorney General James seeks a preliminary injunction requiring the nursing homes to obtain and pay for a financial monitor and a healthcare monitor to oversee the facilities’ operations, and a permanent order from the court that would, among other measures:

• Prohibit the nursing homes from admitting any new residents unless and until staffing meets appropriate standards for sufficient care;
• Require the nursing homes to engage and pay for a financial monitor to oversee the nursing homes’ financial operations;
• Require the nursing homes to engage and pay for a health care monitor to oversee the nursing homes’ health care operations and ensure residents’ outcomes improve;
• Direct all respondents to fully disgorge the more than $83 million wrongfully received as part of the scheme and return the money to Medicaid; and
• Direct all respondents, corporate, and individual, with the exception of the nursing homes, to pay statutory costs and reimburse the state for the cost of the investigation.

Investigations into other nursing homes and facilities throughout New York state are ongoing.

The complete lawsuit can be seen here.