The United States Department of Justice announced that it has filed a complaint over what it calls “grossly substandard” levels of care at nursing homes in four states.
The DOJ took the action in federal court in Pennsylvania against ProMedica Health System, Inc. (ProMedica) and various affiliated entities including HCR ManorCare Inc. and four nursing homes located in Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia that were owned and controlled by ProMedica from 2018 to 2023.
Federal prosecutors said that the four facilities provided non-existent skilled nursing facility care or services that failed to meet the required standards of care under the Nursing Home Reform Act. The defendants allegedly failed to develop or follow individualized care plans for their residents.
In many cases, it was alleged that the nursing homes failed to provide adequate wound care to prevent pressure ulcers, failed to maintain residents’ hygiene and to provide showers as required, and failed to provide residents with appropriate assistance with feeding, which often led to severe weight loss.
The DOJ also stated that the nursing homes tried to cover up their deficiencies by falsely documenting in resident medical records that care and services had been provided to residents when it had not been.
“The Justice Department is committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society, including elderly and infirm individuals who depend on nursing homes for safe and dignified skilled nursing care,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Grossly substandard care places nursing home residents at serious risk of harm and this suit sends a clear message that we will pursue health care providers who fail to meet their legal obligations to provide required care and who betray the trust of the residents they are meant to serve.”
The four facilities named in the complaint are: ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Pottstown (Pennsylvania), ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Riverview (Ohio), ProMedica Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation – Greenville East (South Carolina), and ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Imperial (Virginia). ProMedica is a nonprofit corporation that is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio.
“An increasing number of older adults and persons with disabilities are residing in long-term care facilities. These residents are often particularly vulnerable to inadequate assessment and treatment of their needs,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “Beginning almost 30 years ago, the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed some of the first False Claims Act complaints and reached some of the first settlements in the United States to focus on quality of care in the nursing home environment. Today’s complaint again serves notice to the nursing home industry that a failure to provide adequate nursing home care will not be tolerated. Public funds expended for nursing home residents must result in appropriate care, which is what the government pays for, and the law requires.”
The complaint followed a coordinated effort by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.
In response, Tasha Moore, ProMedica associate vice president of Strategic Communications, said: “We believe the intervening lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against four skilled nursing facilities previously owned by HCR ManorCare is without merit, and we will vigorously defend against it. It stems from two underlying lawsuits filed against HCR ManorCare skilled nursing facilities back in 2016 and 2017.”
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