for-profit home

For-Profit Nursing Homes May Abuse COVID Relief Funds

Published on: August 13, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Some U.S. Nursing Home Providers Will Misuse COVID Relief Funds

A revealing story published in the Washington Post shows that many for-profit nursing homes across the U.S., received hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID relief by The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The funds were intended to be shared to help health care workers and nursing home residents address pandemic-related shortcomings in care, but came with few spending restrictions. Unfortunately, some for-profit owners may take advantage of the support rather than spend the money on necessities such as personal protective equipment or hazard pay for nurses and aides caring for residents battling COVID-19.

According to Health and Human Services (HHS):

State Attorney Race Puts ManorCare Back In The News

Published on: March 18, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Remember the Big Payout to Nursing Home Chain, HCR ManorCare?

The for-profit nursing home chain ManorCare went bankrupt with $7.1 billion in debt in 2018 over neglect and Medicare fraud allegations. The group operates about 15 facilities located throughout the Chicago area, primarily under the Heartland, ManorCare Health Services and Arden Courts brands. Prior to the bankruptcy, the chain was owned by the Carlyle Group, who bought the real estate in 2007 for $6.1 million. According to the Washington Post, the chain couldn’t make the $472 million a year rent payment, so instead, left its financial ruin to the takeover company, Quality Care Properties. Residents were found neglected, uncared for and living with painful bedsores and fall injuries, and without barely enough staff. An analysis of violation reports and records from the Illinois Department of Health shows:

Staff at a South Holland facility failed to prevent a woman from getting bedsores, and an infection led to her untimely death in 2010.

Nursing Home Visitor Update | Coronavirus In Illinois

Published on: March 13, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

CMS Says U.S. Nursing Homes Should No Longer Allow ‘Most’ Visitors

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma joined President Trump’s news conference on coronavirus on March 13 in the Rose Garden, where he declared a national emergency. Verma announced that guidance will be coming for U.S. nursing homes about harsher visitor restrictions. She also said the new restrictions now include “all visitors and non-essential personnel, with few exceptions, such as end-of-life situations.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that visitors and healthcare personnel are the most likely sources of introduction of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus strain, into a long-term care facility. Many facilities in Illinois have already imposed their own harsh visitor rules in hopes of slowing the spread of the fatal virus that is responsible for the death of 22 residents of a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington as of Wednesday, March 11.

HUD Lender Buys Chicago Nursing Home Chain

Published on: January 23, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Troubled Rosewood Facilities Bought Up by For-Profit Lender

Greystone is the New York-based real estate, investment, and consulting firm set to take ownership over a chain of troubled Chicago-area elder care facilities currently branded under the name of Rosewood. The federal government has been in charge of Rosewood nursing homes after the previous owners defaulted on $146 million in mortgage loans, the largest default in the history of the government mortgage insurance program that provides financial support to 15 percent of the nation’s nursing homes. The previous owners, including Chicago-area rabbi, Zvi Feiner, were found guilty of improperly diverting millions of dollars in federally insured funds to other businesses and ultimately driving Rosewood into a financial crisis.

In December 2019, Greystone filed its licensing agreement with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The group is a major lender to the nursing home industry with a $34 billion loan portfolio, making it the number-one HUD borrower in the country. Greystone also runs a group of nursing homes in Florida under the name Greystone Healthcare Management. Greystone will own and operate the facilities through a series of limited liability companies. A rebranding of the Rosewood home names is expected.

Grove of Evanston Violated Nursing Home License

Published on: November 26, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Proper Care

Recent Inspection Report Shows Grove of Evanston Still Underperforming

Last year, The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) slapped the Grove of Evanston, 500 Asbury St., with a $25,000 fine for a Type A violation where “there is a substantial probability that death or serious mental or physical harm will result, or has resulted.” According to news sources and IDPH officials, the nursing home violated the terms of its license when it failed to assess a resident and notify a doctor of his declining condition. IDPH said the failure resulted in the resident being sent to a local hospital where he died less than 24 hours later.

Public health officials reviewed the resident’s records and recently released the report findings to show:

How Much Do Top Nursing Home Executives Make?

Published on: August 27, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home executive salary

Nursing Home Top Executive Salaries Rise, Patient Care Need Left Unmet

Nursing home ownership and management can be lucrative for some, but the resulting greed has been known to overpower fiscally responsible care decisions. While busy lining personal pockets, investing dollars back into the care system to support staff and resident well-being will too easily fall off the priority list allowing the resulting struggles to quickly emerge.

Overworked nurses

Chicago Nursing Homes That Stole Medicare Benefits

Published on: June 20, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

medicare theft

Four Chicago Nursing Facilities Caught Up in Medicare Fraud Whistleblower Case

Some Chicago nursing homes and rehabilitation centers are paying nearly $10 million back to the U.S. government after being caught lying about the level of care their patients required and for violating the False Claims Act by overbilling federal health insurers. Greed came through by abusing power over resident benefits paid for through Medicare and maximizing those amounts under fraudulent therapies and support.

At the center of the fraud sat Quality Therapy and Consultation Inc. of Orland Park, and its owner, Frances Parise. Parise allegedly worked with these four Chicago facilities.

Falls Quickly Decline Health of Nursing Home Residents

Published on: June 13, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home neglect

Falls Remain Leading Cause of Injury-Related Deaths for Older Adults and Understaffed Nursing Homes Could Be to Blame

Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among persons aged 65 years and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the age-adjusted rate of deaths from falls is increasing as well. Ironically, as many as 75 percent of nursing facility residents are reported falling each year and carry twice the chances of falling compared to a senior who lives in their own home or community.

For elderly patients living in care facilities, hazards that contribute to fall injuries can include:

Nursing Homes And No Harm Deficiencies

Published on: May 31, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

retirement home

Nursing Homes With “No Harm” Deficiencies Are Not Being Held Accountable

Nationwide, a majority of nursing homes voluntarily participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Because of this partnership, facilities must adhere to minimum standards of care established by the federal Nursing Home Reform Law. Those who do not comply, should receive health violations leading to various penalties including fines or in some of the most severe cases, a group’s Medicare or Medicaid certification will be suspended or revoked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

CMS data indicates that about 95 percent of these health violations are cited as causing “no harm” to residents. In a May 2019 newsletter published by the Center for Medicare Advocacy and the Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC) several examples of these “no harm” deficiencies, taken from Statements of Deficiencies (SoDs) on Nursing Home Compare, were discussed. Surveyors classified all of the shortcomings listed below as “no harm,” meaning that they determined that residents were neither hurt nor put into immediate jeopardy for their health or well-being.

When Nursing Homes Turn Deadly

Published on: April 22, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

wrongful death attorneys

Nursing Home Associated with Large, For-Profit Network Sued After Woman Suffered and Died

News of a recent lawsuit against Three Mile Curve Operations LLC, dba Logan Center, Genesis Healthcare LLC a nursing home in Logan Center, West Virginia alleges that poor care provided at the facility caused a woman who required rehabilitative services and assistance with day-to-day tasks to suffer from neglect related injuries and eventually die.

According to a March 25^th report in the West Virginia Record, an incident took place on April 12, 2018, which triggered the untimely death of Ms. Lilian Messer soon after being admitted to the facility.