Eden Park No Paradise, Sale Still Pending
Posted on Saturday, 9 of February , 2008 at 10:25 pm
COMMENTARY
By June Maxam
When you hear the word “Eden”, what does it mean to you?
Aside from the Biblical Garden of God and the first home of Adam and Eve, Eden is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “delightful place, a paradise”.
So when one first hears of Eden Park Health Services which owns and manages nursing homes in New York, Connecticut and Vermont, including the Eden Park Health Care Center in Glens Falls, they would perceive the facilities to be places of complete bliss, delight and peace.
And that would be a fallacy.
When the Department of Medicare and Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspected the Glens Falls nursing home last year, it was found that the facility was not equipped and maintained to provide a safe environment for residents, personnel and the public.
The previous inspection of the facility found deficiencies in the quality of care, residents’ rights and physical environment.
But yet the nursing home is home to nearly 120 residents. The inspection reports are disturbing.
And so they are at other Eden Park facilities.
As the maintenance staff buffed the hallway at the Glens Falls facility on Warren St., they stirred up dust balls under the beds in the residents’ rooms and they blew through the air like spent dandelions in the spring. Wastepaper baskets were overflowing and the residents’ beds were unmade, even in the middle of the afternoon. Flowers on the windowsills went unwatered and dressers and clothes closets were in disarray.
One resident sat huddled in her wheelchair in her room, wrapped in blankets with the raspy, gasping cough of bronchitis. Her heating unit was turned off. With the outside temperature hovering at near 0, the heating unit in the resident’s room was set at 69 and when it did operate, it blew cold air across her.
There were less than six aides working on the floor for the approximate 40 residents and some of the aides had been there for nearly 16 hours, having to work double shifts due to a lack of staffing.
Aides move about, some solemnly, obviously unhappy about being there and watching the clock until its time to leave. Some are more jovial, joking with the residents, most of whom don’t smile much. While other nursing homes often have visits from therapy pets, not so Eden Park. Instead, they get visits from students of nursing classes who run about the dining room while the residents are trying to eat, poking them with instruments to take their blood pressure or temperature, treating them like a bunch of guinea pigs and denying their privacy and dignity.
Looking towards the dining area, one can see residents grouped around tables, some asleep, those awake and cognizant looking bored, no one was paying any attention to them.
It seems convenient to take the residents to the dining room and dump them for hours. When residents cry and want to be taken to their rooms because they have to go to the bathroom or want to lie down, they’re told they have to wait until everyone is finished eating and “you’ve got a diaper on, you’ll be okay”.
On the day of one floor’s Christmas party, after one resident had finished eating and wanted to lie down in her room and rest before her family came, she was denied, told she had to stay in the dining room for “a couple of hours” because they weren’t going to be bothered to move her twice. Only when a visitor interceded after seeing the resident crying, did an aide take her to her room.
Another day at the Glens Falls Eden Park Nursing Home, another prima facie reason why the facility needs to be monitored by surveillance cameras. Perhaps visitors need to take their camera cell phone with them to record the nursing home operations.
One visitor relates that for more than a month every time he visited his mother, he saw dried blood on her face. She developed a deep congested cough which lingers but yet the aides continue to place her near the windows and their “heating units” which blasts cold air on the backs of the residents, both in the dining room and in their little “cell”. On one recent visit to the facility, upon arriving on the floor, a visitor was told her mother wasn’t there, had been taken out for an “appointment”.
The desk refused to disclose to the family member the nature of this appointment and where it was. It was later learned that the family member was at the hospital for day surgery but no family member had been apprised, no one had been notified so they could have accompanied the family member and allayed their fears, and even when a family member was present and only minutes from the hospital, they refused to say where she was.
It’s been three weeks since a biopsy was done. The nursing home says the results still aren’t back.
There is a serious absence of compassion and denial of dignity at Eden Park in Glens Falls. Patients are denied their rights, their dignity, their self esteem, their self worth. Even when they make their advance directives, choose their health care proxy, make their own decisions and are perfectly capable of doing so, the hierarchy forces them to disregard their personal choices and change to a person the nursing home wants to deal with, and fearful of retaliation, the residents sign the paper.
Residents who are cognizant are constantly keep in a level of stress and anxiety by staff members telling them they’ll have to go to the hospital if they don’t have a bowel movement, like that’s something in the resident’s control. On at least one occasion, the resident was admitted to the hospital for two days, without the knowledge of family members, just to have an enema administered because there was no doctor on duty at the nursing home. What a waste of Medicaid and Medicare funding or private insurance and what a emotionally devastating experience for the resident.
It’s inhumane to deliberately scare the residents, fearing that they’ll be forced to go to the hospital. Some of the residents have many times voiced that they wish they could go somewhere else because of abuse and neglect, but fearful of retaliation if they complain.
On one occasion, one of the residents didn’t have her eyeglasses on and they couldn’t be found. Upon going to the desk and asking the aides where they were, one aide laughed and boldly bragged she hadn’t been to that resident’s room in the last month and had no idea where they were.
Residents and their families have the right to expect that they will receive care, proper care. The resident’s glasses had fallen off her face and down the side of her wheelchair. Had the absence of the glasses not been noticed, it’s likely they would have been broken. Obviously no one was paying any attention to the residents, the staff at Eden Park doesn’t care and that is unacceptable.
Often past noon, the beds of many of the residents are still unmade or unchanged. One resident is wheeling himself up and down the hallway, trying to get assistance, asking to be taken to the bathroom but being ignored. Other residents unable to help themselves are sliding out of their wheelchairs or sitting uncomfortably off to one side, ignored by the aides.
Then there’s the meals, the guy in the kitchen whose pants keep falling to the bottom of his buttocks, exposing his boxers and he has to keep grabbing them and pulling them back up with one hand while he’s picking up trays with another. This is the same guy that serves mashed potatoes with stuffed shells.
Items continue to be missing from residents’ rooms and no matter how many concerns are raised, how many complaints are filed, administrator Lloyd Cote makes no attempt to discuss concerns of family members or answer questions. But when one’s parent or brother or sister is scheduled for surgery and the nursing home doesn’t make notification to the family, it’s unlikely administration would discuss or explain why personal items such as body lotions, fragrances, quilts, sweaters, jackets and even stuffed toys are being stolen from residents, never to appear again, with no reimbursement or even an attempt at explanation.
Because of the staffing problem, there is a serious issue about the care of residents. Shoving them in bed at 6:30 p.m. and leaving them, without changing them for hours is undignified and pure neglect.
Last year, inspectors determined that the Glens Falls facility failed to hire only people who have no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents, failed to report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents; failed to give professional services that follow each resident’s written are plan and failed to make sure that a working call system is available in each resident’s room or bathroom and bathing area.
http://nursinghomes.nyhealth.gov/browse_view.php?pfi=1010
Eden Park in Glens Falls is one of four nursing home facilities owned by Eden Park Health Services in Albany with Scott Hoffman as the chief executive officer. Others are in Catskill, Poughkeepsie, Utica. The corporation has previously closed facilities in Albany, Hudson and Cobleskill.
The corporation, which is based in Florida, also owns two nursing homes in Vermont, one in Brattleboro and one in Rutland, and two in Connecticut.
The Eden Park facilities in Utica and Poughkeepsie are on the National Nursing Home Watch List for causing immediate harm to a patient or subjecting patients to immediate jeopardy. http://www.memberofthefamily.net/ny.htm So far, Glens Falls has escaped this list but it seems that it may be only a matter of time. http://www.memberofthefamily.net/usmap.htm
The Eden Park facilities in Brattleboro and Rutland have been cited for more than the state average of violations for the past three inspections
Eden Park has a history of poor care. In enforcement actions announced last spring by the state Department of Health for the last quarter of 2006, three Eden Park facilities were cited. The Cobleskill facility was cited for giving substandard care, putting their residents in jeopardy or causing resident harm. As of last December, the Cobleskill facility was not allowed to admit any new Medicaid or Medicare residents until the care issues were corrected and is no longer owned by Eden Park.
Eden Park’s four other nursing homes—Glens Falls, Catskill, Poughkeepsie and Utica and an assisted living center in Troy, are said to be in the process of being sold to a group from Lynbrook, LI, operating under the name of Marvin Ostreicher.
Ostreicher, president of the National Healthcare Associates, is listed as a director of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and the owner of 17 skilled nursing facilities.
According to the state Department of Health, Certificates of Need were issued on Sept. 19, 2007 to Glens Falls Crossings LLC, Catskill Crossings LLC, Poughkeepsie Crossings and Utica Crossings LLC for the operation of the nursing homes operating under the Eden Park name in those cities. According to the DOH website, those entities are the new operators of the four Eden Park Health Centers in New York State.
However, there’s just one problem. None of those entities which are supposedly operating the four Eden Park nursing homes are registered as legal entities with the Department of State. The Warren County Clerk’s office says there’s no record of Glens Falls Crossings LLC doing business in the county.
How can one do business in the state without being legally registered, especially a health care facility?
In the state of New York, all LLC’s formed or qualified to do business in the state, are required to publish a notice of formation. This requirement does not affect the good standing status of the LLC; however, an LLC is required to complete this requirement in order to have access to the New York State court system. The publication is made at the county level in two newspapers as assigned by the local county recorder, for six consecutive weeks.
New York requires most businesses to obtain a business license and pay a fee if operating in the state.
Section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law requires a notice related to the formation of a limited liability company (LLC) to be published in two newspapers. The newspapers must be designated by the county clerk of the county in which the office of the LLC is located. An affidavit of publication from each newspaper must be filed with the Department of State. A Certificate of Publication, with the affidavits of publication of the newspapers annexed thereto, must be submitted to the Department of State, with a $50 filing fee.
According to the Department of State, the four “Crossings LLC” entities, supposedly operating Eden Park nursing homes in the state, are not registered with the state as required.
If one performs a “Google” search for Glens Falls Crossing, they are led to a website at www.glensfallscrossings.com which says it’s “under construction” and to “check back soon”. The website was supposedly “created” by Creative Genius of Saratoga Springs and the domain was registered by National Health Care of Lynbrook, LI in June 2007.
The domain registration says the title of the website is “Glens Falls Crossings Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation”, a non-existent entity with the Department of State. The domain registration says it is affiliated with Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation which specializes in “skilled nursing services for patients and families seeking long term care with dignity and respect for their individualized needs”.
The website provides a feedback form to submit if one wishes more information on “Glens Falls Crossings”. The form is directed to Cold Springs, a 672 bed nursing facility located in Nassau County.
Initially, MaryEllen Peck, director of admissions for Cold Spring Hills, responded to The North Country Gazette’s request for information regarding Glens Falls Crossings, directing NCG to contact Maribeth Muller, the director of Census Development for National Healthcare, at an email address. But before that could be done, NCG was contacted by Timothy A. Brown, director of marketing and communications for National HealthCare Associates of East Hartford, Ct.
On Wednesday, Feb. 6, Brown said that the sale of the Eden Park facilities was “pending and not complete and I do not have a closing date on the sale. However, I do anticipate this to take place in the next 30-45 days”
Brown then invited NCG to contact him with any questions via phone or email.
The NCG asked Brown to advise who the current owner of the facilities is and to explain the relationship of National HealthCare Associates, Cold Spring and four Crossings LLCs which are listed with the state DOH as being the operators of the Eden Park facilities but are not legal entities recorded with the state.
Brown was also asked to identify the names of the current administrators at each of the Eden Park facilities and which facilities were involved in the “takeover”. Brown was asked to what he attributed the holdup in the sale as NCG had been advised by staff members at the Glens Falls facility last September that there was to have been a change in management at that time.
Brown chose not to answer the questions and despite a follow up, is still playing dodgeball.
Instead, on Friday, Gordon Thomas, marketing coordinator for Cold Springs Hills, contacated NCG, saying he had received NCG’s inquiry from the Glens Falls Crossings website and wanted to discuss the matter.
The problem is, Gordon Thomas has absolutely no knowledge of Glens Falls Crossings and can’t explain why people would be directed to Cold Springs. “I don’t know”, he said Friday. “I’ll have to research that”. He did say that Cold Springs was owned by National HealthCare Associates. He said he had never heard of Glens Falls Crossings or Eden Park.
Founded in 1984, National HealthCare Associates (NHCA) has grown into a network of 17 skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers located throughout Connecticut and New York. National HealthCare Associates represents more than 3,000 beds in these geographic areas and employs over 4,000 professional caregivers and related staff.
Most of National HealthCare Associates’ facilities are fully certified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations (JCAHO) and all have passed the rigorous standards established by each state National HealthCare Associates operates in. In addition, all National HealthCare Associates facilities are Medicare certified and participate with most major insurance plans and managed care organizations.
Last May, Ostreicher of NHCA of Lynbrook and East Hartford, Ct., filed a proposal with the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration to purchase the Eden Park Nursing Homes in Brattleboro and Rutland, Vt. Ostreicher told the state that it was his intent to purchase the 80-bed Brattleboro facility for $4.68 million and Eden Park’s 125-bed nursing home in Rutland for $4.65 million for an estimated total capital expenditure of $9.33 million.
The purchase price for the four Eden Park facilities in New York State has not been made public by Ostreicher and Hoffman.
Ostreicher told Vermont officials that he had created two limited liability corporations to expendite the purchase, one Brattleboro Crossings LLC and the other Rutland Crossings LLC. According to the database for the Vermont Secetary of State, unlike New York, those entities are legally registered with an origin date of June 2007. The registered agent is listed as National Corporate Research of Townsend, Vt.
The state determined that Ostreicher must apply for a certificate of need which is required when the construction, development, purchase, renovation, or other establishment of a health care facility, or any capital expenditure by or on behalf of a health care facility, exceeds $1.5 million.
In December, payroll checks were bouncing at the Eden Park facility in Rutland and Eden Park CEO Scott Hoffman claimed his company was financially solvent and not in fiscal distress.
Haven Health, which owns nursing homes in Rutland and St. Albans, had filed for bankruptcy in December, owning the state more than $1 million.
Hoffman said the decision of Eden Park Management to sell the company’s operations in New York and Vermont wasn’t due to financial difficulties. He didn’t mention the history of poor inspection reports. He said the bounced paychecks at the Rutland nursing home were because of “transactional error” and not reflective of the company’s solvency.
Hoffman said in December that his company had decided to downsize and confine its operations to Florida where he said the majority of the company’s assets are based.
On Jan. 8, the state’s Public Oversight Commission recommended approval of the application. Joan Senecal, commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Aging and Disability told NCG that it was expected the final approval would be granted to NHCA and Ostreicher for the purchase of the two Vermont facilities by the end of February.
In September, Chem RX, a privately-owned long term care pharmacy in Long Beach, took over the pharmacy operations of the Eden Park nursing homes in Glens Falls, Catskill and Utica. Chem Rx has acquired the inventory, equipment, service contracts and facility leases of a pharmacy affiliated with Eden Park Health Services of Albany in late August and would serve the facilities from offices in Albany.
The company also has operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Last May, Eden Park Health Services its seven-story, 84,000 square foot nursing home on Holland Ave., Albany, to True North Hotels of Albany for $2.4 million to be converted to a Towne Place Suites by Marriott. The corporate headquarters for Eden Park is located next door but that too is up for sale.
Since the early 1950s, the organization has grown from one nursing home founded by a family seeking quality long-term care for their aging mother, into 13 facilities that staff more than 100 employees at each location.
Eden Park Health Services Inc. was registered with DOS in 1971 and lists corporate headwaters at 22 Holland Ave. in Albany. At one time, it operated 13 facilities in New York State.
In April 2006, it was announced that the state Department of Health was investigating the 125-bed Eden Park Health Care Center in Cobleskill, looking into patient care issues. Last March, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services levied a civil penalty of $43,622 against the facility.
During the investigation of the facility earlier this year, the state had found that the Cobleskill facility was in “immediate jeopardy” based on a Medicare and Medicaid survey of the home.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 11 deficiencies found at the Cobleskill home in 2007, more than twice the average of five for nursing homes statewide. A rating of immediate jeopardy indicates that a facility has deficiencies that have caused or are likely to cause serious harm, injury, impairment or death if not immediately rectified.
Those deficiencies, which included quality-of-care problems and administration issues, have supposedly been corrected. In addition to the state-imposed penalties, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services imposed a civil penalty of $5,050 per day on Eden Park and denied payment for new admissions. Medicare and Medicaid patients in the home weren’t forced to leave but the home didn’t receive payment for new admissions while it remained in “immediate jeopardy”.
The Cobleskill facility has since closed.
In a report issued by the federal agency last February, following an inspection of the Glens Falls nursing home, despite the deficiencies and findings that the facility didn’t investigate reports of missing controlled substances and failure of the staff to follow physicians’ orders for the patients along with inoperative call buttons, the agency determined that the Glens Falls facility was in compliance with the Life Safety Code requirements for Long Term Care Facilities. February 2007 Report
The 10-page report issued last February states that “the facility must not employ individuals who have been found guilty of abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents by a court of law; or have had a finding entered into the State nurse aide registry concerning abuse, neglect, mistreatment of residents or misappropriation of their property; and report any knowledge it has of actions by a court of law against an employee, which would indicate unfitness for service as a nurse aide or other facility staff to the State nurse aide registry or licensing authorities.
Additional information concerning these reports or to find inspection reports of other nursing homes throughout the United States can be found at http://www.medicare.gov/Nursing/Overview.asp
The “Mission” listed on the new website for Glens Falls Crossings says:
It is our mission to provide our residents and their families
With superior care delivered by staff dedicated to
The principles of kindness, compassion, service and
Excellence in an environment where the individuality,
Dignity and value of those who are served, as well as
Those who serve, is nurtured and appreciated.
That might be the mission, but it is still unaccomplished.
We believe that life, at all stages, and with all of its challenges
Is a precious gift to be shared and celebrated.
It is our privilege to participate in the lives of
Our residents, their friends, and families by
Offering them not only physical but
Emotional care, comfort and support. We Touch People’s Lives.Eden Park sure does—-but not in the way you’d want any of your loved ones to be touched.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/05/20/unsafe_environment/ http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/06/09/eden_surveillance/ http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/05/30/retaliation_illegal/
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/05/13/residents_at_risk/
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102906EdenParkCorrections.html http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/2007/012907EnforcementAction.html http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/103006EdenParkPayout.html http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/05/26/better_staffing/ http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/05/22/staffing_ratios/ 2-09-08
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Category: Business, Consumers, Disabled, Elder Care, Family, Government, Health, New York State, Opinion, Warren County
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