Focus officials face felony charges for nursing home neglect
The Cooperstown CrierJun 08, 2018
Reduced staffing, pay cuts and disregarded warnings were among factors contributing to unsafe conditions when the Focus company managed the nursing home in the town of Otsego, according to a felony complaint charging the facility's former operators.
The state
Defendants were arraigned
The case revisits issues about patient care provided by the previous owner of the nursing home off of
On
Centers Health Care isn't mentioned in the complaint, and Centers officials had no comment Thursday on the current court case.
Otsego County had owned and operated the nursing home before selling it in 2014 to Focus for
Focus cut the staff of the nursing home from 298 to 225 employees, and patient-care and regulatory issues beleaguered the facility, which was put on probation by the federal
Zupnik was the 99-percent owner of CCRN, the corporation that held the ownership certificate for Focus Otsego from
"Upon taking ownership and control of the home's operations in
Defendants had received but disregarded many communications from senior staff "that residents were at risk for harm," plus warnings from outside sources, according to the
Charges under penal law against each defendant were three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a class E felony, and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a class A misdemeanor.
Each defendant also was charged under state Public Health Law with three counts of willful violation of health laws, an unclassified misdemeanor.
"These are just allegations,"
Zupnik, 36, of
A call Thursday afternoon to the
According to the felony complaint, various counts pertain to care of the residents at Focus altogether and to two specific cases, involving patients "R.B." and "M.P."
The
However, Focus administrators, directors of nursing and senior licensed professional managers repeatedly requested more staff to be scheduled and warned that low wages and onerous working conditions were preventing them from filling staff vacancies and creating risks to residents, the
Zupnik and Herman also diverted state Medicaid Program funds to benefit residents and "paid such funds for their own benefit through companies they owned or controlled," the complaint said.
According to the complaint, the defendants disregarded warnings including:
Warnings from senior managers about the impact of defendants' 50 percent cuts in payroll level and cuts in staffing levels.
About many incidents and accidents at the facility, including those documented in internal reports that illustrated abuse, mistreatment and neglect of residents.
Repeated communications from administrators and nursing directors that supervisors couldn't find enough willing staffers to work shifts because pay cuts and onerous double-shift requirements imposed by defendants.
Seven arrests were made of Focus staff and one of a Focus resident for crimes at the facility involving health care offenses, including neglect cases of residents "R.B." and "M.P.," in incidents between
In one case, about
On
In a 2016 case, a 94-year-old woman, "M.P.," was left in a recliner for nearly 41 hours