The New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General’s (OMIG) investigative efforts played a key role in supporting the New York State Attorney General’s Office to secure a major settlement with a Nassau County-based nursing home accused of longstanding resident neglect, abuse, mistreatment, and financial fraud. As announced by the state Attorney General’s office, Fulton Commons Care Center, Inc., of East Meadow, Nassau County, agreed to pay up to $8.6 million and install monitors to reform the nursing home’s healthcare and financial operations after years of financial fraud and resident mistreatment.
Between January 2018 and January 2022, according to state prosecutors, the owners of Fulton Commons orchestrated financial schemes that diverted more than $16 million in Medicaid and Medicare funding intended for patient care to themselves. As a result, the facility had insufficient staffing levels that led to resident neglect, deficiencies in care and a failure to provide basic bodily and dental hygiene or nutritional management. Moreover, vulnerable residents suffered sexual abuse and unexplained physical injuries that went unreported to law enforcement. In addition to $1.6 million in restitution the owners and operator of Fulton Commons are required to pay as part of the settlement, the owners and operator are also required to pay up to as much as $7 million into a fund to implement the required reforms necessary to ensure the facility complies with all New York laws and improves patient care.
