New York’s state attorney general’s office has filed its fourth lawsuit within a year against nursing home operators and owners. The suit alleges fraud and neglect at facilities where residents faced dire conditions, including dehydration, infections, sepsis, and an increased risk of death.
The current litigation targets four nursing homes managed by Centers Health Care, a limited liability company operating facilities in Bronx, Erie County, Queens, and Westchester County. Incidents of severe neglect have been cited, including a resident wandering the streets without staff noticing, and another found in a state of extreme distress and covered in feces.
The lawsuit accuses Centers Health Care’s owners and operators of unlawfully misappropriating over $83 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds over the past decade for their own enrichment. The attorney general’s office alleges that the owners executed an intricate network of fraudulent transactions, diverting funds meant for staffing and resident care.
As a remedy, the suit seeks an order prohibiting the facilities from admitting new residents until staffing requirements are met and a demand for the disgorgement of all wrongfully obtained government funds.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].