The New York attorney general is suing a large nursing home operator, alleging that its owners pocketed more than $83 million from Medicare and Medicaid that was intended for patient care while neglecting residents at their facilities across the state.
The lawsuit is against the for-profit company Centers Health Care along with its individual owners and a web of their family members and related limited liability companies involved with the nursing home network. The alleged pattern of neglect – which includes unsanitary conditions and instances of patients being left to sit in their own urine and feces for hours – took place over several years at the Beth Abraham Center in the Bronx as well as three other facilities in Buffalo, Queens and White Plains.
“People, and particularly vulnerable New Yorkers, deserve better,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a press conference about the lawsuit on Wednesday. “We will do everything in our power to protect our most vulnerable because no one should be treated this way.”
Jeff Jacomowitz, a spokesperson for Centers Health Care, said the nursing home operator will fight the allegations.
“Centers Health Care prides itself on its commitment to patient care,” Jacomowitz said in a statement. “Centers denies the New York attorney general’s allegations wholeheartedly and attempted to resolve this matter out of court.”
The network includes nearly 40 nursing homes across New York as well as additional facilities in other states. James has recently been on a swing of suing nursing home owners for fraud and neglect, and representatives from her office said investigations into other nursing home operators are ongoing.
Kenneth Rozenberg and Daryl Hagler, co-owners of Centers Health Care, allegedly used multiple schemes to pilfer money from the nursing homes, including a deceptive real estate arrangement. Through a series of limited liability companies, Hagler also served as the landlord of these nursing…
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