An Upstate NY nursing home that serves chronically ill and disabled children has agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle allegations that it billed for worthless care and falsely claimed it operated an effective compliance program.
The Center for Disability Services Holding Corporation, which operates as St. Margaret’s Center in Albany, violated the False Claims Act between January 2018 and December 2023 by providing grossly substandard care while collecting federal and state Medicaid dollars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District.
State inspections revealed the facility failed to consistently provide adequate nursing staff, protect residents from significant medication errors, or properly deliver respiratory and tracheostomy care and suctioning. In one survey, the New York State Department of Health determined the facility inadequately supervised three residents, jeopardizing their health or safety.
The health department placed St. Margaret’s Center in immediate jeopardy status for over a month in 2022. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services subsequently added the facility to its Special Focus Facility list, which identifies nursing homes nationwide with histories of serious quality problems.
The facility admitted its compliance program failed to meet statutory requirements. The compliance officer testified under oath that they had “no idea” how to identify potential risks associated with caring for medically fragile infants and children and was unaware that the facility had been placed in immediate jeopardy status. The compliance program did not include quality of care as a potential risk area until March 2023, after the government investigation began.
As part of the settlement, St. Margaret’s Center agreed to a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General that will address quality of care and resident safety.
Two former employees filed the whistleblower lawsuit that prompted the settlement. They will receive approximately $247,000 of the settlement proceeds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York and the New York Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit jointly investigated the case.