288 Nursing Homes with Enforcement Actions
288 Nursing Homes with Enforcement Actions
Reporting period: December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2018
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Healthcare, Nursing and Rehabilitation
Rabbi Zvi Feiner Accused of Nursing Home Ponzi Scheme
Rabbi accused of nursing home Ponzi scheme ordered to pay $13M to investor
A North Shore rabbi has been ordered to pay $13 million in his ongoing legal battle over an alleged real estate Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of more than $35 million.
Zvi Feiner, rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish Congregation in Skokie and head of the Feiner Investment Corporation, stands accused of using his status in the Jewish community to entice investment into nursing homes, which he would acquire and ultimately sell without paying back investors.
His alleged victims include a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor, a group of Jewish day school teachers that lost their life savings in the scheme, and a fellow Orthodox Jewish rabbi and businessman.
Rabbi Sidney Glenner invested more than $25 million in six loans to Feiner’s real estate companies between 2013 and 2015. The money was to be used to invest in nursing and retirement homes, with Feiner offering up as collateral his existing real estate holdings, according to court records.
At the same time Glenner made the loans, Feiner’s businesses began to falter. By 2014, a lien was placed on all of Feiner’s assets by a different investor, complicating Glenner’s investments and his efforts to be repaid.
When Glenner’s loan payments came due, Feiner said he could not pay due to “financial stress,” court documents show. Instead, he offered up various properties. But he already had sold some of the properties, and the value of the collateral is disputed by the two parties, according to court documents.
For example, Glenner in 2013 made a $3.8 million loan to Feiner for a nursing home investment in Downstate Decatur. The Decatur venture is also the subject of other lawsuits against Feiner, in which investors claimed the rabbi would make regular disbursements to investors before abruptly stopping.
Feiner told investors the nursing home’s operator was not paying rent and so he was forced to turn the property over to a lender. Local news reports, however, allege Feiner stopped paying the bills for the facility, causing its operator to close its doors. While the nursing home was open, Feiner borrowed from the facility and never paid it back, according to a previous lawsuit.
Eventually, the building that housed the nursing home was turned over to Glenner. The property was valued at $500,000, but Glenner had to pay $450,000 in unpaid real estate and payroll taxes, court records claim, leaving an the outstanding loan payment at $3.75 million.
In another case, Glenner loaned Feiner $7 million, and Feiner offered up four properties as collateral. When Feiner didn’t make payments on the loan, Glenner sought to take over the properties used as collateral — except Feiner had already sold two of them, according to court records.
In 2017, Glenner sought arbitration against Feiner in the Jewish Ecclesiastical Court of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. The court ordered Feiner to pay $13.2 million in the case. Now, lawyers for Glenner are asking the Cook County Circuit Court to confirm the Rabbinical Court’s ruling.
Feiner could not immediately be reached for comment.
This is at least the fourth lawsuit filed against Feiner involving his nursing home investment enterprise.
In November, the Cohen family of Chicago sued Feiner in federal court, saying he took more than $2 million in investments and never repaid them. One of those investments involves the Decatur nursing home. The family also invested in a South Holland retirement home that Feiner eventually sold for a profit of $3.6 million, which he did not share with investors, the suit alleges.
Earlier this year, a group of investors sued Feiner, saying they invested $15.5 million in his nursing home companies and were never repaid. In September 2017, a federal suit was filed against Feiner, with investors saying the rabbi’s failure to pay them for joint ventures he sold constituted a violation of the RICO Act.
Open Letter to Senator Ortt and Fellow Legislators – Nursing Care in New York
An Open Letter to Senator Ortt and Fellow Legislators:
Re: The Deplorable state of Nursing Homes in New York
As the child of an elder who was evicted-with 123 others in a real estate developer churn of a Nursing Home in Brooklyn, I’ve become fully engaged in these matters & very much appreciate your efforts to get some of the dynamics changed with the two proposed Bills. When I saw this story, in the link that follows, I wanted, with all due respect, to offer my take on what I’ve learned along the way with my personal experience & advocacy.
https://www.whec.com/news/bills-proposed-to-hold-nursing-home-owners-accountable/5193223/
I’m betting the farm that what does get passed will be more optics than substance. What is required will never be written into law-Leading Age, NYSHFA, GNYHA & other LTCF Lobbying groups own too many NYS lawmakers who are currently in Albany.
I’m going to ask you, if you’re not aware of the ProPublica Oct 2015 investigation, to take a look at it & its indictment of the DOH/Public Health & Health Planning Committee.
And…three years later two of SentosaCare’s homes were just sued- same ‘players’
two-city-nursing-homes-sued-inadequate-care-and-staffing
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Reality check…this is chronic…this is a business in which for-profit consortia with wide reaching tentacles own the Nursing Home industry in NY…and it has been cited that NYS has among the worst nursing home infractions & standards in America. Shame on us and shame on NY State Senators and Assemblypersons. It’s on you and the Governor!
A real solution? Jail time for criminal behavior towards the weak & vulnerable…overdue justice for victims of evil predatory harm…nothing less. It is an old story that NYS AGs don’t ever prosecute criminal owner/operators…especially former AG Schneiderman. The DOI refuses to investigate the deleterious DOH & PHHPC…we keep asking and they refer the problem home to…the DOH!? But the self-serving and abysmal Dept of Health which has abetted criminal owner/operators & rewarded malefactors with even more licenses-is the default department designated to monitor these very same miscreants!?! Unbelievable failure of stewardship. It must be changed.
In this particular matter you’ve addressed, the owners are parts of other consortia where sub-par facilities are a given-& rarely called to any serious account. Researching these names will provide you with chapter & verse.
https://orleanshub.com/nursing-home-sale-praised-and-panned/
“Comprehensive principal owners include Joshua Farkovits, Bernard Fuchs and Mordy Lahasky. They have ownership stakes in other nursing homes besides the ones in Buffalo and Albany.”
These Bills sound nice…but here’s the rub:
A) Will Cuomo sign off on them?
I doubt it.
B) Surprise visits?
May or may not help-& lack of money to hire sufficient investigators is problematic. As well, as long as there are no ratios to allow sufficient aides & RNs to be hired by nursing home ‘businessmen’ who frankly do not care a whit…continuing bed sores, elopements, psychotropic overmedication to quiet patients are the real problems that ‘surprise visits’ will not mitigate.
C) Independent monitors selected by the shameful PHHPC?
By the inept DOH?!? Believe me when I tell you-appointed ombudsmen (as has been the case) are tagged along by owner/operator management so that residents are fearful to speak about infractions.
“It would also require utilizing independent quality monitors, approved by the DOH, to directly supervise homes found to be non-compliant to ensure violations are addressed and fixed”
D) As for:
” The second of Ortt’s pending submissions will prevent any owners of nursing homes found with violations to acquire more properties until they’re rectified, after which there would be a two-year probationary period after the issues are resolved.”
It sounds good, Senator…but here again are three concerns…
First-because violations are able to be self-reported by the operator…the emptiness of this standard is self-evident.
Secondly, the churning within the consortia of ‘investors’ is a revolving door…deals back & forth…two years means nothing when digging deeper-percentages exchanged in wheeling/dealing sub-rosa exchanges.
Finally-what is most important, is that until misdemeanors become felonies…all penalties-such as they purport to be, are nothing more than chump change fines -built into the cost of doing business.
So please forgive my skepticism.
What can I suggest that would be a positive proposal-you may well ask? Allow a revolving team of Nursing Home Resident family members to meet monthly as the truly independent monitors/reporters to document and to challenge infractions, failures, harm. Enshrine them to be as integral to the determination as the ‘appointed’ monitors. An authentic, no-holds-barred consortia that is calendared in Albany each month to share their findings & present them to the Health & Aging Committees as to what is actually going on. The imbalance of legislator pols (present company excepted!) whose existence relies on self-serving donors will never mitigate this…even as there are more elders in need of more safe long term care facilities…it will not happen with these two Bills, in my humble opinion. When new Bills are written, include the public -we’re the honest brokers with no conflicting favoritism.
New Bills irrespective of how well intentioned MUST be given teeth. This deleterious Governor must allow strong enforcement & unequivocal punishments to be passed into regulatory oversight. Only then will we see prevention of the government sanctioned torment at life’s end for the most fragile souls…your loved ones and mine. “
Yours sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Compare Nursing Homes in New York – the Unrated and the 1 – Star Rated – DO NOT IGNORE THIS!
Compare Nursing Homes in New York
Research and compare ratings for nursing homes in the state of New York. There are 622 nursing homes listed. There are 161 nursing homes with a 5 star rating, 122 nursing homes with a 4 star rating, and 92 homes with only a 1 star rating.
Nursing Home Report, Non-NY Highest Fined, Widespread Neglect – Is this Really Where you Want to Send your Most Vulnerable for Care?
To our Readers:
This is part of our ongoing effort to spark government reform on behalf of our elderly and most vulnerable. Many of our elderly are living in deplorable conditions, understaffed, under cared for and largely ignored.
Fines (as listed below) are paid because it is far cheaper than fixing the problems. Owners see dollars over care, as evidenced by the reports listed below; and patients are getting, at best, substandard care. If you open the link, there is information about each and every home on the list, many of which have widespread problems listed.
The ONLY way that these places will be held accountable to their patients is if people, the public at large, refuse to send their elderly to stay at any of these homes. If they do not have the beds filled, they will either be forced to improve or to close. You, our dear readers, do have a choice. You do have a say. Please pay attention.
And, if you have a loved one staying at one of these places, if you see something, report it. Report to Medicaid and Medicare if there is fraudulent behavior going on. If your loved one is not getting the care you want, be loud. Be angry. Be an advocate. Don’t sit by and expect to get the right answers.
Nursing and rehabilitation care is ultimately a business. There are few, if any, acts of altruism. If the person who owns the home sees only dollar signs, your loved one is nothing more than a cash cow. Our elderly deserve better.
See below.
Highest Fines for Nursing Homes
Top 100 Fine Dollar Amounts
| No. | Name (State) | Fine Date | Fine Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Living Center – Morgantown (WV) | October 17, 2016 | $1,508,727 |
| 2 | Salem Transitional Care (OR) | December 30, 2015 | $1,219,608 |
| 3 | Wellspring Health & Rehabilitation of Cascadia (ID) | July 19, 2016 | $1,127,000 |
| 4
Owned by Robert Robbie Hartman of Chicago and Isaac Neuberger of Baltimore |
Brinton Woods Health & Rehab Center of Pikesville (MD) | September 13, 2016 | $788,696 |
| 5 | Creekside Health and Rehabilitation Center (TN) | June 16, 2016 | $766,774 |
| 6 | Consulate Health Care of Melbourne (FL) | January 28, 2017 | $724,707 |
| 7 | Life Care Center of Lawrenceville (GA) | November 4, 2016 | $704,352 |
| 8 | Nhc Place at Cool Springs (TN) | August 14, 2015 | $663,500 |
| 9 | Cordele Health and Rehabilitation (GA) | August 4, 2016 | $650,000 |
| 10 | Orchard View Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Center (GA) | January 8, 2016 | $637,455 |
| 11 | Ballenger Creek Center (MD) | August 2, 2016 | $624,658 |
| 12
Owned by Ira Smedra from Los Angeles |
Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation (KY) | February 27, 2017 | $616,110 |
| 13 | Medical Management Health and Rehab Center (GA) | January 29, 2016 | $608,531 |
| 14 | Montvue Nursing Home (VA) | August 14, 2015 | $603,027 |
| 15 | Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center (GA) | November 9, 2016 | $594,680 |
| 16 | Hurstbourne Care Centre at Stony Brook (KY) | May 22, 2015 | $579,458 |
| 17 | Pruitthealth-high Point (NC) | December 30, 2014 | $566,280 |
| 18 | Community Care of Rutherford (TN) | July 29, 2015 | $548,500 |
| 19 | Golden Living Center – Riverside (WV) | December 18, 2015 | $541,385 |
| 20 | Avante at Orlando Inc (FL) | January 5, 2017 | $538,715 |
| 21 | Signature Healthcare at St Peter Villa (TN) | August 28, 2015 | $526,435 |
| 22 | Excel Care Center (FL) | May 1, 2015 | $524,909 |
| 23 | Signature Healthcare at North Hardin Rehab & Welln (KY) | February 25, 2016 | $523,868 |
| 24
Owned by Eli Gunzburg of Cleveland |
Westport Care Center (KY) | June 3, 2015 | $508,495 |
| 25 | Clairemont Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LLC (CA) | August 11, 2014 | $490,130 |
| 26 | Brinton Woods Health & Rehab Center of Pikesville (MD) | December 3, 2015 | $476,808 |
| 27 | Madison Pointe Care Center (FL) | May 21, 2015 | $472,805 |
| 28 | Blount Memorial Trans Care Center (TN) | October 2, 2014 | $465,465 |
| 29 | Signature Healthcare at St Peter Villa (TN) | August 27, 2014 | $449,248 |
| 30 | Manorcare Health Services – Adelphi (MD) | May 19, 2016 | $435,500 |
| 31 | Fox Chase Rehab & Nursing Center (MD) | August 3, 2016 | $429,590 |
| 32 | Glenwood Healthcare (GA) | November 18, 2016 | $428,837 |
| 33 | Diversicare of Nicholasville (KY) | February 6, 2015 | $425,000 |
| 34 | Windermere Health and Rehabilitation Center (GA) | August 5, 2016 | $418,893 |
| 35 | Wilora Lake Healthcare Center (NC) | July 17, 2015 | $415,679 |
| 36 | Manorcare Health Services – Wilmington (DE) | June 9, 2016 | $414,854 |
| 37 | Community Place (MS) | October 19, 2014 | $411,483 |
| 38 | South Haven Health and Rehabilitation Center (AL) | November 3, 2016 | $402,540 |
| 39 | Bernard Care Center (MO) | February 19, 2015 | $399,800 |
| 40 | Prestonsburg Health Care Center (KY) | July 30, 2015 | $393,250 |
| 41 | Princeton Health & Rehab Center, Inc (KY) | September 12, 2014 | $386,750 |
| 42 | Manorcare Health Services – Woodbridge Valley (MD) | September 10, 2015 | $381,000 |
| 43 | Stanton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (KY) | August 6, 2015 | $377,738 |
| 44 | University Center East (FL) | May 8, 2015 | $372,980 |
| 45 | Mt Pleasant Healthcare and Rehabilitation (TN) | November 3, 2016 | $370,728 |
| 46 | Fairview at Redstone Village (AL) | January 31, 2015 | $364,130 |
| 47 | Forest Ridge Health & Rehab (WA) | December 12, 2016 | $363,272 |
| 48 | Mountain View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (KY) | November 23, 2015 | $357,338 |
| 49 | Millennium Nursing & Rehab Center, Inc (AL) | September 24, 2015 | $354,380 |
| 50 | Palm Garden of Clearwater (FL) | April 13, 2017 | $350,628 |
| 51
Owned by Ronald Wilhelm and his father-in-law from Cleveland, Ohio |
Clinton Healthcare Center (MD) | February 22, 2016 | $350,500 |
| 52 | Phoenixville Care and Rehabilitation Center (PA) | August 12, 2016 | $346,958 |
| 53 | Anderson Mill Health and Rehabilitation Center (GA) | January 20, 2016 | $339,886 |
| 54 | Deer Lodge (MT) | February 2, 2017 | $339,586 |
| 55 | Haines City Health Care (FL) | August 26, 2016 | $339,385 |
| 56 | Autumn Care of Drexel (NC) | January 30, 2015 | $337,968 |
| 57 | Smith Medical Nursing Care Center (GA) | December 15, 2016 | $329,324 |
| 58 | Woodley Manor Health & Rehabilitation (AL) | May 7, 2016 | $329,030 |
| 59 | Pruitthealth – Shepherd Hills (GA) | March 21, 2016 | $325,098 |
| 60 | Honorage Nursing Center (SC) | January 13, 2017 | $319,133 |
| 61 | Twin Rivers Nursing and Rehab Center (KY) | May 20, 2016 | $314,990 |
| 62 | Jefferson Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (TX) | November 29, 2016 | $313,400 |
| 63 | Valley Nursing Center (NC) | July 24, 2015 | $311,625 |
| 64 | Rainier Rehabilitation (WA) | April 19, 2016 | $311,253 |
| 65 | Paul E Patton Eastern Ky Veterans Center (KY) | January 15, 2015 | $306,833 |
| 66 | Iredell Memorial Hospital Inc (NC) | April 20, 2016 | $303,100 |
| 67 | Signature Healthcare of Hart County Rehab & Wellne (KY) | December 30, 2015 | $301,600 |
| 68 | Savoy Nursing & Rehab Center (MA) | December 5, 2016 | $298,766 |
| 69 | Blue Point Healthcare Center (MD) | January 15, 2015 | $296,024 |
| 70 | Mount Vista Rehabilitation and Health Center (AR) | October 23, 2015 | $292,200 |
| 71 | Glenbridge Health and Rehabiltation Center (NC) | February 27, 2015 | $290,197 |
| 72 | Good Samaritan Society – Silver Wood Village (ID) | June 24, 2016 | $289,597 |
| 73 | Paramount Rehabilitation and Nursing (WA) | June 24, 2016 | $287,430 |
| 74 | Brookdale Atrium Way 2 (FL) | February 25, 2015 | $286,130 |
| 75 | Riverview Health Care Center (KY) | January 25, 2017 | $282,638 |
| 76 | Lake Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (NC) | November 2, 2016 | $277,052 |
| 77 | Lewis Memorial Christian Vlg (IL) | February 6, 2015 | $275,960 |
| 78 | Edmonson Center (KY) | December 19, 2014 | $273,910 |
| 79 | Rehabilitation and Health Center of Gahanna The (OH) | February 15, 2017 | $273,833 |
| 80 | Riverside Health and Rehab (SC) | March 3, 2015 | $271,408 |
| 81 | Magnolia Manor – Greenville (SC) | December 14, 2016 | $271,263 |
| 82 | Woodlands Nursing & Rehabilitation Center (NC) | January 20, 2017 | $270,073 |
| 83 | Orangeburg Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center (SC) | September 15, 2015 | $265,790 |
| 84 | Pacific Specialty & Rehab Care (WA) | October 25, 2016 | $265,785 |
| 85 | Prairie View Cr Center-lewistown (IL) | August 27, 2014 | $265,000 |
| 86 | Consulate Health Care of Melbourne (FL) | June 10, 2015 | $258,635 |
| 87 | Largo Health and Rehabilitation Center (FL) | July 25, 2016 | $255,041 |
| 88 | Pineville Rehabilitation and Living Center (NC) | March 1, 2017 | $252,915 |
| 89 | Compass Post Acute Rehabilitation (SC) | April 21, 2016 | $249,422 |
| 90 | Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland (CA) | May 26, 2015 | $246,750 |
| 91 | Longleaf Neuro-medical Treatment Center (NC) | August 20, 2016 | $243,407 |
| 92 | Eamc Lanier Nursing Home (AL) | June 24, 2016 | $243,003 |
| 93 | Bermuda Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (NC) | August 27, 2014 | $241,670 |
| 94 | Blue Ridge in the Fields, LLC (SC) | August 3, 2015 | $240,386 |
| 95 | Manorcare Health Services – Rossville (MD) | June 30, 2015 | $240,305 |
| 96 | Cherrydale Health and Rehabilitation Center (VA) | June 30, 2016 | $239,850 |
| 97 | Brookhollow Heights Transitional Care Center (TX) | January 16, 2015 | $239,655 |
| 98 | Venetian Care & Rehabilitation Center (NJ) | May 17, 2016 | $239,547 |
| 99 | Ridgeview Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center (PA) | November 14, 2016 | $239,379 |
| 100 | Westminster Village Health (DE) | August 26, 2016 | $239,168 |
Holding Nursing Home Owners Accountable for Compliance Violations and Deplorable Care
Ortt backing package of bills aimed at greater accountability of nursing home owners
When the new legislative session begins in Albany in January, State Senator Robert Ortt will be submitting two bills – and putting his support behind an already forwarded piece of legislation – that supporters say will hold owners of nursing more homes accountable for compliance violations.
Ortt, a Republican whose district covers the northern counties of Western New York, wants to create unscheduled inspections of nursing homes and under one of his two bills, 40 percent of those surprise visits would come outside regular business hours, including nights, weekends and even holidays.
Kelly Bentley, whose grandmother resides in a nursing home, speaks of some of the problems including injuries her loved one has suffered in her residence. Standing with her and listening at the podium is State Senator Robert Ortt, who is pushing for a series of bills in 2019 that he says will hold owners of non-compliant nursing homes more accountable.
Under the current rules, facilities are given advance warning of a pending visit which, Ortt points out, gives many the opportunity to make the adjustments which keep them in good graces while the inspectors are watching.
“Even myself, when I went to a facility, naturally we told them we were coming,” said Ortt, whose committee positions includes chairing the Senate’s Mental Health and Devrelopmental [sic] Disabilities Committee. “I was told after the visit – and I’ve gone through a couple – by residents and family members who called my office, and pleaded that I not tell anybody that they called… they said ‘what you saw yesterday was not how it normally is.'”
The second of Ortt’s pending submissions will prevent any owners of nursing homes found with violations to acquire more properties until they’re rectified, after which there would be a two-year probationary period after the issues are resolved.
Supporting Ortt’s legislation is Kelly Bentley, who chairs the Family Council of the Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center. Her grandmother, Florence Moden, has suffered abuses in her nursing home, according to Bentley, most recently as early December. Despite the family’s complaints, she says, the problems have not been addressed.
“This is going to protect them,” she said. “This is our future, our fate. Im sorry, but we have to have some changes in Albany that are going to come back and ensure that we as family members, who have entrusted someone to care for our loved ones, that they’re actually going to receive that.”
He is also throwing his support behind a proposal submitted this past May by outgoing State Senator Kemp Hannon that gives the New York State Department of Health more powers to fine violators. It would also require utilizing independent quality monitors, approved by the DOH, to directly supervise homes found to be non-compliant to ensure violations are addressed and fixed.
“Right now, there’s a nursing home that’s failing. They have to come up with a corrective action plan. Who makes sure that they do that?” Ortt asked. “Right now, I guess really the answer is we don’t know. We hope that they comply. If they don’t, maybe we get a complaint or call, but there’s no one on site to hold the feet to the fire of the facility.”
Hannon, the original sponsor of the bill which includes independent quality monitors, was defeated in the November elections and will leave office after nearly three decades. Ortt, who is certain to lose his chair position in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee when Democrats assume the majority in January, acknowledged the challenge of forwarding his bills under new leadership.
He’s hopeful, though, that his legislation will gain the support needed to be forwarded to Andrew Cuomo’s desk later in 2019.
To read the remainder of the article click, here.
Ohio Court Ruling Favoring Surviving Spouse as Against Nursing Home
Local nursing-home owner, state association appeal Supreme Court decision
COLUMBUS —
The Ohio Health Care Association is urging the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider a decision seen by some as relief for surviving spouses in the state facing bills for the care of deceased loved ones.
On Dec. 12, the state’s high court ruled 5-2 that Embassy Healthcare should have filed a claim with the estate of a Warren County widow’s husband before pursuing payment from her for his care under Ohio’s “necessaries” statute.
The decision reversed an appeals court ruling favoring the health-care provider.
RELATED: Advocates say Warren County case a big win for Ohio seniors
Advocates for seniors said the ruling would have far-reaching implications for surviving spouses facing bills for the care of loved ones who have died.
In urging reconsideration, a lawyer representing the owner of the nursing home, Carlisle Manor in Warren County, questioned the implications of the ruling for other senior health-care providers.
“Must they follow this case and engage in the futile act (as the dissent rightly notes) of opening an estate (likely naming the creditor as administrator), present the claim to the administrator, and have that claim denied by the self-same creditor for insufficient assets?” Susan Audey, the lawyer filing for Embassy Healthcare, asked in a motion to reconsider and clarify the decision.
“The unintended consequence to loved ones of requiring this expedited inquiry so soon after the death to preserve a creditor’s claims appears harsh, stressful, and unfair to the bereaved survivors,” Audey added in her Dec. 21 motion for reconsideration and clarification.
RELATED: Paying dead spouse’s bills at issue in Ohio Supreme Court case
On Christmas Eve, the health care association, representing 1,000 nursing homes, assisted living center and service providers, filed the brief in support of the motion.
“The Court’s decision creates an ambiguity that will lead to further confusion,” lawyer David Brown said.
The case stems from a lawsuit originally filed by Embassy, the nursing-home owner, against widow Cora Sue Bell in Franklin Municipal Court over bills owed for care of her husband, Robert, who had died.
RELATED: Warren County widow winds nursing home fight over dead spouse’s bills
In filings urging the state’s high court to rethink their decision and its implications, Brown and Audey point to a 1990 ruling.
In 1990, in Ohio State University Hospital v. Kinkaid, the court “found no such requirement in a case where a health care provider-creditor, not unlike Embassy Healthcare here, sought payment for unpaid medical-care necessaries from a spouse after the decedent’s death and after the time for presenting claims to an estate expired,” Audey said in her motion.
Bell’s lawyer and those who filed briefs in support of her Ohio Supreme Court appeal have until Monday to argue against reconsideration.
A lawyer with one of the groups backing Bell’s case, the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, said he wasn’t surprised.
“Anytime a corporation loses at the Supreme Court level, it’s probably not a bad idea to file for reconsideration,” Scott Turguson said. “There’s a lot of money involved.”
Turguson was unsure if he or others who supported the appeal by Pro Seniors, a senior advocacy group in Cincinnati, would file responses.
He expressed confidence that the decision would stand, while pointing out two new Supreme Court justices would be joining the court in January.
I think it’s very unlikely. Anything’s possible,” Turguson said.
Miriam Sheline, the lawyer behind the successful high-court appeal, said the arguments in the latest motion were nothing new and predict the ruling will stand.
