Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Chaim “Charlie” Steg, former Regional Director of Operations at St. Francis Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare (St. Francis), has pled to his role in recklessly endangering three residents of the facility. This plea comes as the result of a joint investigation conducted by the Office of Attorney General (OAG) and Darby Borough Police through the 44th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. In addition, St. Francis will be required, through a civil settlement, to maintain an increased minimum staffing level and undergo quarterly audits by the Department of Health to ensure compliance.
The investigation into St. Francis began after the Office of Attorney General received dual referrals from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Darby Borough Police Department. The initial investigation began in August 2017, after staff at the Mercy Catholic Medical Center’s Mercy Fitzgerald Campus notified the Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging of concerns they had for the poor condition of several residents transferred from St. Francis. The investigation identified three St. Francis residents who were victims of neglect. The residents suffered conditions including, pressure wounds, sepsis, dehydration, and bowel obstructions. The evidence showed these outcomes were the result of systemic failures in St. Francis primarily driven by inadequate staffing practices. Steg’s employees repeatedly warned him that St. Francis’ chronic staffing problems endangered the residents. He ignored their warnings and his reckless decision making caused these three Pennsylvanians serious bodily injury and ultimately led to their death.
The Grand Jury found that these serious injuries were avoidable and were a result of Steg’s failure to address well-known staffing deficiencies at St. Francis that detrimentally impacted both the quantity and quality of care delivered to its residents. The Grand Jury heard from 22 witnesses, several of whom testified that they tried to fix staffing issues at St. Francis and were denied by Steg. One former Director of Nursing said at times she disobeyed orders from Steg to reduce staff just so she could sleep at night.
