After the arrest of two employees, there’s an expanding investigation into the Allegheny County-run Kane nursing homes.
Two employees of the Kane Community Living Centers have been arrested for theft of county funds and five others have reportedly been suspended pending the outcome of a widening corruption investigation.
It started with grass cutting. Maintenance workers get extra money for cutting grass, what is called “tractor time.” According to the criminal complaint, between June and September, worker Patrick McGough put in for 196 hours of tractor time, which surveillance cameras showed he never worked. McGough has been arrested and charged with theft by deception and has been suspended without pay.
But the investigation was just beginning. Two weeks ago, county police arrested human resources director Heather Dietz, who stands accused of directing funds into the payroll account of her niece for more than a year after her niece had stopped working at the Kane Living Center in Glenn Hazel. The criminal complaint says Dietz intercepted those checks and cashed them for herself. On Wednesday morning, she waived the charges of fraud and theft to court for trial.
Deitz has also been suspended without pay, but the internal probe is expanding. Days after Deitz’s arrest, KDKA-TV’s Andy Sheehan learned the county suspended Robert Wernicki, the administrator at the Kane Center in Scott. Sources confirm Wernicki and his chief assistant have been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. He also learned that the director of nursing at Scott and her two assistant directors have been suspended with pay, making a total of seven employees now under suspension.
It’s a widening investigation but something the county police and Innamorato administration aren’t commenting on. Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski issued a gag order in the Deitz case and the investigation is under wraps. And county spokesperson Abigail Gardner would not confirm or deny the suspensions.
Kane Community Living Centers have struggled in recent years to keep up with capped Medicaid and Medicare funds and the growing number of low-income families who cannot afford private assisted living or skilled nursing. The specter of missing funds is not helpful to that cause.
To ensure public trust, sources say the internal investigation has been spearheaded by the new director, Rasonia Nicholes, who was appointed last year. Nicholes also would not comment.
It should be noted that at this point, only Deitz and McGough have been charged with criminal acts. Wernicki and the others have not, but the investigation is continuing.
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