A union representing workers at a nursing home already under investigation for fraud are calling on the state to place the facility in receivership, alleging that the owners are revoking workers’ healthcare benefits in an “outrageous and dangerous” act.
Direct care staff planned to picket in front of New York’s Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehab for the seventh straight day Friday in an attempt to raise awareness of working conditions. Among the points of contention: They say the owners have failed to pay their share for health benefits and will end coverage Aug. 25.
The 606-bed Long Island facility is owned by Philosophy Care Centers. Though founder Bent Philipson is not listed in an ownership or management role, Philipson’s son, Avi, has a 24% stake, per Care Compare.
The Philipsons are at the center of a civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James last year that alleges the older Philipson is indeed the principal owner and that the organization instituted straw owners to conceal his control.
The suit alleges Cold Spring Hills diverted over $22.6 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds from resident care through a “fraudulent network of companies that were used to conceal up-front profit taking” and that the owners repeatedly cut staffing before COVID.
On Wednesday, Long Island politicians joined the protestors as officials with the 1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East asked the state to intervene further.
“This is an employer that is already under investigation by the Attorney General’s office and has a lawsuit filed against them for diverting close to $20 million away from the facility that should be going through resident care and the workers, to ensure that it’s a quality place for them to live and work,” said Timothy Rodgers, vice president of 1199’s nursing home division. “We’re calling on New York State to step in, because this employer has shown that they have an inability to operate this facility effectively and ensure the well being of the residents and the workers. We’re asking the Department of Health to appoint an emergency receiver to stabilize the working conditions and the living conditions of the residents.”
A request for comment left on the voicemail of Cold Spring’s administrator was not immediately returned Thursday.
Workers are set to lose their health benefits by Aug. 25, after receiving a 30-day reprieve. The union has said the company claims it cannot pay its share of the health insurance premiums.
Michele Byrne, a physical therapy assistant, has worked at Cold Spring Hills since 1984. She told the Long Island Press this week that this is the most egregious act she’s seen happen there.
“It feels like we’re on the Titanic, and it’s sinking,” she said. “And nobody’s coming to save us.”
A number of elected officials expressed support for the nursing home workers.
“We in government have an obligation to make sure that people meet their obligations in the private sector and in places like this institution needs to meet its obligation to its workers,” the Long Island newspaper quoted Deputy Suffolk County Executive Jon Kaiman as saying. “We in government, are prepared to put our names out here in solidarity with them, because at the end of the day the company here has an obligation to pay benefits.”
