Nursing Home Owners Stole $83 Million While Neglecting Residents, New York Lawsuit Says
By Brendan Pierson
On June 28, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against nursing home operator Centers Health Care and its owners for allegedly pocketing $83 million in government funds while residents at four of its New York facilities suffered widespread neglect, illness and deaths. The lawsuit seeks to prevent new admissions at the four New York nursing homes until staffing reaches sufficient levels and require the hiring of financial and health care monitors to ensure compliance. The lawsuit accuses Centers owners Kenneth Rozenberg and Daryl Hagler and others of stealing Medicare, Medicaid, and other funding for patient care over the last decade via a complex network of companies and sham contracts. The lawsuit seeks the return of those funds. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, over 400 residents of the four New York facilities died, which the lawsuit attributes, in part, to Centers’ failure to provide masks to staff or follow infection control protocol.
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