North Country Gazette



Vermont Eden Park Nursing Homes Have Record Of Abuse

Posted on Thursday, 10 of April , 2008 at 7:34 pm

© By June Maxam

In June, 2003, Mark and Sheldon Hoffman charged that their oldest brother, Scott Hoffman, the chief executive officer of sister companies Eden Park Health Services and Eden Park Management, headquartered in Albany,  was mismanaging the operation along with their sister, Paulette Hoffman and a fifth owner, Alton Marshall, Eden Park’s corporate secretary. 

The two Hoffman brothers, who owned 49 percent asked that the company be dissolved, according to the Albany Business Review.  At that time, the corporation operated nursing homes within the state in Albany, East Greenbush, Glens Falls, Catskill, Utica, Cobleskill and Poughkeepsie. The brothers claimed that Scott and the corporation had acted improperly in shutting down a nursing home in Hudson. Scott Hoffman and his sister owned 49 percent of the shares and Marshall held the other two percent. Since that time, with Mark and Sheldon Hoffman out of the operation, Scott Hoffman has managed to rack up horrific inspection reports at the facilities.  The Albany, East Greenbush and Cobleskill nursing homes have closed and there is an extensive history involving poor care of residents in the other Eden Park facilities, most recently horrific reports of abuse, improper care and poor administration at the Brattleboro and Rutland facilities.At one time, the organization owned 13 nursing home facilities in New York, Connecticut, Vermont and Florida.  It was formed in the 1950’s by a family seeking quality long-term care for their aging mother.

At the time of the 2003 lawsuit, Eden Park had stopped paying dividends to Mark and Sheldon while Scott and Marshall had increased their own salaries.  The brothers’ lawyer said that their primary concern was to provide quality care for patients and they wanted another company to operate the facilities.  Scott Hoffman opposed the dissolution.

The Albany Eden Park 210-bed facility at 22 Holland Ave. closed in September 2003 and was sold to the True North Development Group of Ronkonkoma, NY in April 2007 for $2.4 million. True North has recently secured a $6.3 million loan from GE Capital Solutions to convert the former nursing home into a 106-room extended-stay hotel, Town Place Suites by Marriott.

At Eden Park in Glens Falls, when previous alleged acts of patient neglect, actual patient injuries and abuse were reported to the state, the nursing home retaliated against the reporter, refusing to provide any information to the person about her family member and ultimately refusing to admit another family member because he had designated the person to be his health care proxy with durable power of attorney.

Under the direction of nursing home administrator Lloyd Cote, retaliatory steps were taken by the nursing home to remove the whistleblower, the person who had reported the abuse, from being her mother’s health care proxy, shut her out of all decisions and information concerning her family member and refused to admit the other family member until she was removed as his guardian because the nursing home didn’t want to be answerable to or “have to deal” with the guardian and because the guardian had exercised her First Amendment rights in levying criticism against the Hudson Headwaters Health Network which supposedly provides medical services for Eden Park.

Although changing the resident’s health care proxy was against the wishes of the resident, she was afraid not to agree to the coercion of the administration, fearful of being subjected to mistreatment or even more retaliatory acts and was forced to sign the form.

Other problems and incidents of abuse and neglect at Eden Park went unreported because the resident was afraid of more retaliation if family members voiced their concerns.

In September, 2006, The New York Post reported that dozens of New York City nursing homes were “houses of horrors”, that “residents die from shoddy care, women are sexually abused and lax security endangers dementia sufferers who wander way.

The Post investigation found that the state Health Department had found 48 facilities in violation in the last year and that eight of the city’s nursing homes were at the highest level of risk, “immediate jeopardy” because of “substandard quality of care”. The inspection reports for the Glens Falls facility show a pattern of mistreatment, lack of quality care, resident rights deficiencies and pharmacy deficiencies. In 2002, the facility was found to have improperly restrained residents, denied them their right to choose activities, failed to meet their nutritional needs and didn’t keep drugs properly stored.

Inspection Results: EDEN PARK HEALTH CARE CENTRE INC GLENS FALLS

The 2005 federal inspection report of Eden Park Health Care Center in Glens Falls indicated that the corrections were shown as being needed in dietary services; that significant corrections were needed in the quality of care and that corrections were needed in providing residents rights. The overall rating for the Eden Park Health Care Center in Glens Falls was that “significant corrections were needed”, just one step below the “immediate jeopardy” rating.The facility’s overall rating was “needing corrections” but yet it ruled that it was in compliance with Life Safety Code requirements. December 2005 Report

Deficiencies in the quality of care, residents’ rights and physical environment were found and reportedly corrected but when the most recent federal inspection of the Glens Falls facility was released in early 2007, it was found that the facility was not equipped and maintained to provide a safe environment for residents, personnel and the public.Inspectors determined that the Glens Falls home failed to hire only people who had 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=1010http://www.medicare.gov/    

Scott Hoffman is now advancing a plan to sell the Glens Falls, Catskill, Utica and Poughkeepsie facilities to a group from Lynbrook, LI, operating under the name of Marvin Ostreicher, in addition to two corporation-owned nursing homes in Vermont, one in Brattleboro and one in Rutland.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 New York 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.The Division of Corporations of the NYS Department of State told The North Country Gazette Thursday, Feb. 21, there is no record of a limited liability company under the name of Glens Falls Crossings LLC “nor do we have a record of an assumed name filed under the name of Eden Park Health Care Center” nor are the other “Crossings” registered with the state.

Eden Park has a history of poor care, especially under the management of Scott Hoffman.  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.  The facility closed and is no longer owned by Eden Park.

In its most recent report issued of nursing home enforcement actions, the Eden Park Health Care Center facility in Catskill has been cited by New York State Department of Health for deficiencies that have caused isolated resident harm.

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.

The North Country Gazette had first learned that the Eden Park “Health Care Center” in Glens Falls had been sold in September 2007 and according to a certificate of need issued by the NYSDOH, the facility was being operated by “Glens Falls Crossings LLC”. 

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 (NHCA), 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 several attempts by NCG to contact him, refuses to provide the requested information.

With days of the appearance of NCG’s article, the website for Glens Falls Crossings LLC which was shown to be “under construction”, disappeared from the Internet and remains unavailable.

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 expedite the purchase, one Brattleboro Crossings LLC and the other Rutland Crossings LLC.  According to the database for the Vermont Secretary 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.

On Oct. 3, 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had conducted an “unannounced onsite survey” at the Rutland nursing home based on a complaint received alleging resident to resident abuse.

In Glens Falls, staffers at the Eden Park facility claimed that they always knew in advance when inspections were going to be conducted by both the state health department and the federal agencies and could ready for the inspection.

At the Rutland facility, the federal agency found that Eden Park failed to provide interventions and supervision to prevent an individual from creating an environmental of fear and failed to protect residents from psychological harm.

A facility is prohibited from using verbal, mental, sexual or physical abuse, corporal punishment or involuntary seclusion of a patient. According to the report, residents, families and staff who witnessed a resident’s aggressive behaviors, verbalized fear of the resident.  They stated that had witnessed the resident in question swat at staff and other residents, pound on closed doors to resident rooms, attempt to push into resident rooms, push residents in their wheelchairs uninvited, topple over linen carts and clear off medication carts.  The resident was also observed throwing chairs and charts at the nursing station and grabbing staff by the throat and limbs causing injuries that required medical attention.

Two of the four residents interviewed expressed concerns for fellow residents who “cannot do anything for themselves” fearing that they could not get out of the resident’s way when she was being aggressive. One resident stated that although the direct care staff are “so good to us”, she felt that there was not enough staff to assure all the residents would be safe during the resident’s “explosions” as they were unpredictable.

It was also found that Eden Park was denying residents the right to participate in the planning or their own care and treatment or changes in care and treatment.  A resident has the right, unless adjudged incompetent or otherwise found to be incapacitated to do so. A comprehensive care plan must be developed within seven days after the completion of the comprehensive assessment, prepared by an interdisciplinary team, that includes the attending physician, a registered nurse with the responsibility for the resident and other appropriate staff in disciplines as determined by the resident’s needs, and to the extent practicable, the participation of the resident, the resident’s family or the resident’s legal representative, and periodically reviewed and revised by a team of qualified persons after each assessment.

It was found that the Rutland facility did not meet this requirement.  It was found that when one resident was observed pacing the hallways of the unit and displaying escalating aggressive behaviors, the wouldn’t be approached until her medication had a chance to take effect.  When the resident got “that look in her eye”, they moved the other residents out of the hallway and to the dining room or their rooms and closed the doors to keep them safe.  There was no care plan in place to manage the aggressive behavior of the resident.

At Brattleboro, the federal agency issued a 16-page report of deficiencies at Eden Park.

HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted an unannounced recertification survey at the Eden Park Nursing Home in Brattleboro, Vt. From Nov. 13 through Nov. 15, 2007 and found that the facility was improperly physically restraining residents. 

It was also found that the facility was not providing the proper housekeeping and maintenance services necessary to maintain a sanitary, orderly and comfortable interior.  Among other problems, there was an accumulation of dead bugs and other debris in the covers of the overhead florescent light fixtures in the fourth floor dining room.  The light figures were located directly above the residents’ dining tables.

During the three days of the survey, a heavy accumulation of dust was observed on the fans located in the hallways, a nurses station and shower rooms as well as on exhaust fans on in bathrooms on both resident floors. The arm rests of one resident’s geri-chair were torn and had rough edges.

It was found that the facility had failed to develop comprehensive care plans for the residents and that the facility was not meeting the requirement concerning activities of daily living of the residents in that there were not providing the necessary services to maintain good nutrition, grooming and personal and oral hygiene.

The facility also failed to ensure that a four of the 13 applicable residents identified at risk for, or with actual pressure sores, received the necessary care and services to promote healing and/or prevent new sores from forming and failed to provide consistent treatment.

The facility also failed to ensure that the resident environment was free of accident hazards and that each resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents and it failed to assure that pharmacy recommendations were acted upon by the attending physician.

It was also found that Eden Park had transferred a resident without notifying a family member.  A resident was transferred on Nov. 4, 2007, to another facility without a family member being given a written 30-day notice or fully understanding the medical reason for discharge and the appeals process.

In January, a nurse formerly employed at Eden Park in Brattleboro was arrested after a complaint was filed that a patient’s supply of Ocycontin pills had been taken from a locked medication cart. 

Sarah Benson, 33, of Putney tested positive for Ocycodone during a June 2007 drug test.  She had been working on a nursing license that prohibited her from administering any controlled substances and prohibited her own drug use except for prescribed medications.

She was charged with possession of a controlled substance and faces up to a year in prison and a $2,000 fine.  Her nursing license was suspended and she was fired from Eden Park.

According to the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, all residents in nursing homes are entitled to receive quality care and live in an environment that improves or maintains the quality of their physical and mental health. This entitlement includes freedom from neglect, abuse, and misappropriation of funds. Neglect and abuse are criminal acts whether they occur inside or outside a nursing home. Residents do not surrender their rights to protection from criminal acts when they enter a facility. This information sheet presents resident rights with regard to neglect and abuse, and steps to take if these rights are jeopardized.

Neglect: Neglect is the failure to care for a person in a manner, which would avoid harm and pain, or the failure to react to a situation which may be harmful. Neglect may or may not be intentional. For example, a caring aid who is poorly tained may not know how to provide proper care.Examples include:–Incorrect body positioning — which leads to limb contractures and skin breakdown;–Lack of toileting or changing of disposable briefs — which causes incontinence and results in residents sitting in urine and feces, increased falls and agitation, indignity and skin breakdown;–Lack of assistance eating and drinking — which leads to malnutrition and dehydration;–Lack of assistance with walking — which leads to lack of mobility;

–Lack of bathing — which leads to indignity, and poor hygiene;

–Poor handwashing techniques — which leads to infection;

–Lack of assistance with participating in activities of interest — which leads to withdrawal and isolation;

–Ignoring call bells or cries for help.

Abuse: Abuse means causing intentional pain or harm. This includes physical, mental, verbal, psychological, and sexual abuse, corporal punishment, unreasonable seclusion, and intimidation. Examples include:–Physical abuse from a staff member or an intruder or visitor from outside the facility — including hitting, pinching, shoving, force-feeding, scratching, slapping, and spitting;–Psychological or emotional abuse — including berating, ignoring, ridiculing, or cursing a resident, threats of punishment or deprivation;–Sexual abuse — including improper touching or coercion to perform sexual acts;–Substandard care which often results in one or more of the following conditions — immobilization, incontinence, dehydration, pressure sores, and depression;–Rough handling during care giving, medicine administration, or moving a resident.

Misappropriation of Property/Funds: This means the deliberate misplacement or misuse of a resident’s belongings or money without the resident’s consent. Examples include:–Not placing resident funds in separate interest-bearing accounts where required;–Stealing or embezzling a resident’s money or personal property, such as jewelry or clothing.Nursing homes are required by federal law to have intervention strategies and regular monitoring to prevent neglect and abuse. The nursing home must reevaluate these measures on a regular basis.For more information regarding nursing home care and abuse, contact information to report abuse and neglect, and information about other nursing home issues, and visit these links.http://www.edlerabusecenter.org/default.cfm?p=nursinghomeabuse.cfm    http://www.nccnhr.org/public/50_156_450.cfm   http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/care_center/nursing_home_statistics.html    Reprinted from 3-02-08

All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted or reproduced without the express written permission of The North Country Gazette.

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102906EdenParkCorrections.html  http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/2007/012907EnforcementAction.html  http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/103006EdenParkPayout.html  

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