A Connecticut-based long-term care management company operating nursing homes across southern New England has agreed to pay $1.75 million and adopt a series of critical compliance measures in a settlement reached by Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office. The settlement resolves a series of allegations, including that the company failed to meet the needs of nursing home residents experiencing substance use disorder (SUD). The largest nursing home settlement ever reached by the AG’s Office, these funds will be directed to the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Trust Fund for prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery across Massachusetts. Athena Health Systems (Athena) of Farmington, Connecticut owns, operates, and manages skilled nursing homes and hospice facilities throughout New England. The AG’s Office investigated reports of substandard care or regulatory violations at these nursing homes that allegedly started in March 2016, based on complaints referred by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman.
The AG’s Office alleges that the Athena facilities, at the direction of Athena, admitted substantial numbers of residents with histories of substance use disorder, despite the fact that the facilities did not have adequate levels of appropriately trained staff to meet the needs of those residents. The AG’s Office also alleges that numerous overdoses have occurred at the Athena facilities, some of which the Athena facilities failed to report to DPH. According to the AG’s Office, Athena was aware that this conduct led to noncompliance with regulations but still encouraged the Athena facilities to admit residents with histories of SUD. The investigation by the AG’s Office also found that one of the facilities named in the settlement failed to adequately screen staff for COVID-19 infection, risking the spread of the virus to medically vulnerable residents.
