Attorney General Maura Healey announced a $90,000 settlement with a Milton nursing home to resolve allegations that it committed neglect of a resident, which resulted in death, and failed to comply with regulations requiring nursing staff to have adequate competencies to care for residents in emergency situations. The settlement with Milton HC Operating, LLC, which operates Brush Hill Care Center, requires the company to pay $90,000, which will be distributed to the Long-Term Care Facility Quality Improvement Fund, a fund administered by the Department of Public Health (DPH) to improve the safety and quality of care provided in long-term care facilities. Brush Hill will also be required to implement an internal compliance program and annually certify compliance with long-term care regulations to the AG’s Office for a period of three years.
The AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division began an investigation in 2019 after a referral from DPH. The investigation found that, on October 30, 2017, a resident was found unresponsive and was having difficulty breathing. The AG’s Office alleges that Brush Hill failed to adequately respond to the emergency situation, that there was a delay in designating the situation as an emergency, that Brush Hill staff did not call a Code Blue on the intercom, and there was an undue delay in contacting EMTs after finding the resident unresponsive. The resident died later that day. This settlement also resolves allegations that Brush Hill failed to comply with long-term care regulations requiring facilities to ensure staff competencies in emergency response because staff were not sufficiently educated about emergency response protocols and Brush Hill did not maintain sufficient policies related to emergency response issues.
