Three nursing homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania have agreed to pay $3.61 million to settle claims they billed Medicare and Medicaid for care that was dangerously below standard according to settlement documents provided by the U.S. Department of Justice.

These three facilities, Cheltenham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia; the Sanctuary at Wilmington Place in Dayton; and Samaritan Care Center and Villa in Medina are all affiliated with American Health Foundation a nonprofit based in Dublin, Ohio as well as its affiliate AHF Management Corporation.

Investigators say that between 2016 and 2018 the homes failed to provide basic care and dignity to their residents. According to the Department of Justice the homes were accused of the following:

• Keeping residents in dirty, pest infested buildings;
• Providing unnecessary medications, which include powerful antipsychotics and sedatives;
• Failing to provide psychiatric care for their residents;
• Neglecting to create care plans or moderate medications;
• Leaving residents without activities, stimulation, or protection of personal belongings.

Deputy assistant attorney general said in a statement, "These are some of our most vulnerable citizens. Nursing homes are expected to treat them with dignity and respect, – not cut corners while collecting taxpayer money."

The government's complaint filed in 2022 also highlights staffing shortages and poor infection control which puts residents at even more risk. While the nursing homes did not admit to wrongdoing, they agreed to the multimillion dollar settlement to resolve the accusations.

AHF is a nonprofit corporation that is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio and owns and controls nursing homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Cheltenham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a 255 bed nursing home located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wilmington Place is a 63 bed nursing home located in Dayton, Ohio. Samaritan Care Center and Villa is a 56 bed nursing home located in Medina, Ohio.

The complaint alleges that the aforementioned three nursing homes provide grossly substandard services that fail to meet required standards of care in various ways. The United States alleges that each facility failed to follow appropriate infection control protocols and failed to maintain adequate staffing levels.

The United States also alleges that Cheltenham housed its residents in a dirty pest infested building, gave its residents unnecessary medications including antibiotic, antipsychotic, antianxiety and hypnotic drugs, and deprived its residents of their dignity by subjecting them to verbal abuse, leaving them without meaningful activities or stimulation and failing to safeguard their possessions including money, clothing and other personal items.

The complaint also allege that they failed to provide their residents with needed psychiatric care. The United States similarly alleges that Wilmington Place had repeated failures related to resident medications including the provision of unnecessary drugs and persistently failed to create and maintain crucial resident care plans and assessments. Finally, the United States alleges that Samaritan had repeated failures related to resident care, care plans and assessments and housed residents in a building on grounds that often were not safe and sanitary.

Contemporaneous with the settlement announced recently, the AHF entities agreed to enter into a chain-wide quality of care Corporate Integrity Agreement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, which will remain in effect for five years and address quality of care and resident safety within the AHF entities’ skilled nursing facilities.

The Dickson Firm has had direct involvement with these corporations. The Dickson Firm represented a family whose love one died of neglect at the Sanctuary at Tuttle Crossing Nursing Home, a facility located in Dublin, Ohio. This nursing home is and was owned and operated by AHF Ohio, Inc., AHF Management Corp., and American Health Foundation, Inc. As a result of the neglect at this nursing home, the resident suffered horrific decubitus ulcers, multiple falls, and died as a result.

If you suspect that someone you love, who is a resident of a nursing home, is not receiving appropriate care, it is imperative that you investigate. Talk with the Director of Nursing. Talk with the Administrator. If you do not get satisfactory answers, move your love one immediately.

AHF Ohio, Inc. is affiliated with Samaritan Care Center and Villa in Medina, Ohio as indicated above; The Sanctuary of the Ohio Valley in Ironton, Ohio; The Sanctuary at Tuttle Crossing in Dublin, Ohio; and The Sanctuary at Wilmington Place in Dayton, Ohio, as indicated above. If someone you love is a resident of any of these four facilities, be very vigilant to make sure they are receiving appropriate care. There is reason to be concerned about the care provided at all four of these facilities.

Samaritan Care Center and Villa was issued a federal fine of $35,000.00 on October 31, 2022 and also had a payment denial by Medicare at that same time. The facility currently has a 2 out of 5 star rating for staffing.

The Sanctuary at Tuttle Crossing is a 66 bed facility in Dublin, Ohio. It has an overall rating of 2 out of 5 stars. On November 29, 2022 it was fined $45,795.00. It also received a federal fine on June 27, 2022. On November 29, 2022 it received a payment denial for Medicare.

If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1(800) OHIO-LAW. We would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.