FBI Raids Pennsylvania Nursing Home Where Hundreds Caught Coronavirus, Dozens Died

[appalachiablue]

Source: NBC News/MSN

By Tim Stelloh, 1 hr ago.

Federal and state investigators raided a Pennsylvania nursing home Thursday where hundreds of residents and staff members tested positive for coronavirus and dozens have died, authorities said. Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the state attorney general's office and other agencies executed the search warrant at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center northeast of Pittsburgh, said Scott Brady, U.S. Attorney for Pennsylvania's Western District.

The Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, another nursing home in the Pittsburgh area operated by the same company that owns Brighton, was also searched by authorities on Thursday, NBC affiliate WPXI reported. Brady did not offer details about the search warrant but he encouraged anyone with information about suspected fraud, abuse or victimization to contact a regional COVID-19 task force.

Last month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that the facility was under investigation over reports of "deeply troubling" conditions and practices. "I can confirm that Brighton is one of the subjects of our criminal investigations into neglect at nursing homes during the pandemic," he tweeted.

State Department of Health data show that 447 residents and staff members tested positive for the disease, and 73 people died. In late July, the facility announced that it had no cases for the first time since March, according to WPXI, but its outbreak remains the worst in a Pennsylvania...

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fbi-raids-pennsylvania-nursing-home-where-hundreds-caught-coronavirus-dozens-died/ar-BB18GI5n?ocid=msedgdhp

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Records by Medicare indicate that state inspectors last year warned of lax sanitary conditions that could promote disease infection spread. A Sept. 13, 2019 report showed that the facility had a shortage of trained nurses and some residents were lving in conditions of filth.
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Many nursing and elder homes are operated for profit by corporations and hire low wage, less skilled staff that have to work at additional facility jobs to supplement income which increases the spread of infection from one center to another.

The industry was also successful recently in lobbying for rule changes to reduce the required hours for staff training and added lengthy extensions for training completion.

*Trump Team Relaxed Training Rules For Nursing Home Staff By 90%, Just As Pandemic Hit: Failed Vulnerable, 7/15/10.
https://democraticunderground.com/1016262340
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- Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, 'Federal Agents Execute Warrants At Brighton Rehabilitation, Mt. Lebanon Site,' Sept. 3, 2020.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2020/09/03/Federal-agents-execute-warrants-Brighton-Rehabilitation-Mt-Lebanon-Rehab-pandemic/stories/202009030126

Federal and state agents on Thursday executed search warrants at Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center and Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, which had already been under scrutiny by the state attorney general's office. U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a statement that agents from the AG's office, the FBI, the office of inspector general for Health and Human Services, and IRS-Criminal Investigation were executing court-authorized warrants.

His office would not release any more details other than to encourage anyone with information on suspected fraud or abuse related to long-term care facilities and the COVID-19 pandemic to report it to the Western Pennsylvania COVID-19 Fraud Task Force through the dedicated toll free hotline or email address. Last month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had confirmed that the Beaver County facility is one of several nursing homes his office was investigating for criminal neglect during the COVID-19 crisis.

Sens. Pat Toomy and Bob Casey have sent a joint letter asking that three federal offices asking that they take five specific actions to address the "devastation" of the virus in nursing homes, such as Bright Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, above, in Beaver County...

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Pennsylvania. Shame on you!

[appalachiablue]

3. Appalling, inexcusable in the wealthiest nation in world history.

[JudyM]

2. Horrible.

Nursing home/congregate living staff are notoriously overworked and underpaid, even at “good” facilities. The US needs more meaningful standards and enforcement. One of those areas where privatization is too often nothing more than soulless gouging as much as possible out of all the players, while carefully putting lipstick on the pig.

[appalachiablue]

4. Staff are terribly used & exploited, even at the classier centers.

Little regulation, just profit. I've had 2 elder relatives in nice places & in one facility the level of neglect & indifference among management & higher level nurses was shocking. In contrast, the daily health aides were caring and efficient.

[JudyM]

9. Yes, that's the bittersweet part. So many of them are in the profession because they genuinely care

about the residents. Yet they struggle financially and often have to work two jobs, keeping them from having the family life with their own kids/partners that they’d like. It’s heartbreaking.

[appalachiablue]

11. That's it exactly & also what's being done with teachers,

lowering pay, decreasing benefits and supplies so overworked, caring teachers have to pay for shortages to help the kids, also increase their income with extra jobs. Or leave the profession entirely, the aim of privatizers so they can hire the cheapest, least experienced 'teachers.'

[JudyM]

14. Yes! Same thing. Two of the most important roles in society, performed predominantly by women.

[appalachiablue]

15. Care work is so undervalued, dismissed in community

and domestic settings in so many places-- 'womens' work.' It has to be recognized as integral to functioning society and compensated fairly.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

5. i'm usually in favor of giving ppl as long as it takes to learn a job but

in this case? yeah, no. how long does it take to teach someone to be clean, kind and responsible?
if you cant get that in the time allotted, maybe try another field.

[appalachiablue]

7. Relaxed rules for training was what the lobby wanted & got this year.

Above is a DU link about this I just added.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

12. ty. iow

we can even scrape the bottom of the barrel to find ppl stupid enough to work for us.

[DeminPennswoods]

6. There's been something fishy about these owners

since they bought the facility from the county back in 2014. I live not far from Brighton Wellness. Before 2014, it was operated by the county, at a loss. It was known fomally as Friendship Ridge, but also just as "the county home" and was generally a place of last resort for residents. The county decided it could no longer afford to run a deficit supporting it, so they put it on the market. There was something odd about the buyer from the start. They were newly formed and out of state (NY). It was difficult to find out much about the ownership group, too. It was a convoluted chain-of-command at best. My own opinion is that the nursing home was bought specifically to make a profit from medicare/medicaid residents. Friendship Ridge didn't have a great reputation when it was run by the county and that deteriorated after it changed hands. I won't be shocked if this case is one of major medicare/medicaid fraud.

[appalachiablue]

8. So sad for patients & families: you could be right Re MM fraud.

[DeminPennswoods]

10. The fact a facility in Mt Lebananon was also raided

makes me think that. The main owner seems to have a hand in a lot of nursing homes/assisted living homes all over the US, but it's like a series of interlocking directorates owns them although they all seem to come back to him in one form or another.

I think these two homes might only be the tip of the iceberg.

[appalachiablue]

13. Big racket corruption, crooks!

[DeminPennswoods]

16. That's what I think

nt