Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

A New York-based healthcare provider has acquired the licenses of 10 Pennsylvania Golden LivingCenters facilities that were targeted in a lawsuit by the state’s Attorney General.

The AG’s lawsuit, announced in July 2015, alleged that 14 Golden facilities were understaffed and “failed to meet residents’ most basic human needs,” a claim that the provider called “retaliation” for challenging the state attorney’s authority.  The suit was later expanded to include an additional 11 facilities.

Priority Healthcare Group’s purchase of the facilities, as well as the acquisition of a personal care home and one other skilled nursing facility not included in the state’s lawsuit, was announced last Wednesday. A spokesman for the company told PennLive the purchase was spurred by Priority’s focus on turning struggling facilities around.

Golden will continue to own the real estate for the facilities, according to local reports. Michelle Metzger, a spokeswoman for Golden, declined to comment to PennLive on the motivation behind the sale.

“That was a business decision,” she said. “We are a privately traded company and we are not going to reveal the reasoning behind it. It’s not relevant.”

The attorney general’s lawsuit against Golden is ongoing.