Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

A lawsuit alleging inadequate care from one of the nation’s largest skilled nursing providers will proceed as planned, a New Mexico district judge ruled last week.

Judge Sarah Singleton denied Preferred Care Partners Management Group’s motions to dismiss the suit, which was brought against the Texas-based provider by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas last year.

Attorneys for Preferred Care Partners have bashed the lawsuit as being as “case of greed and opportunism,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The provider argued that the allegations included in the suit involve incidents that occurred at the seven targeted facilities prior to the company acquiring them.

One of the facilities included in Balderas’ suit has filed their own counter suit against the AG. It said the AG’s office improperly denied the company’s request for documents detailing communications between Balderas and two out-of-state law firms working on the case.

Balderas said Thursday that he was pleased with Singleton’s ruling, since “many vulnerable New Mexicans suffered horrifically” due to the alleged substandard care at the Preferred facilities.

The trial is slated to begin in April 2018.