NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A second lawsuit against a Long Island nursing home was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time alleging several financial frauds and multiple instances of resident neglect, officials said Tuesday.
Last month, James announced the indictment of a nurse who worked at the nursing home—Fulton Commons in East Meadow— on charges of sexually abusing a resident.
Further investigation of Fulton Commons revealed widespread fraud, neglect and abuse of residents in the nursing home, including significant misappropriation of Medicaid funds.
“Fulton Commons failed its residents and denied them the basic right of receiving comfortable, competent, and respectful care at the facility entrusted to serve them,” said James. “Rather than honor their legal duty to ensure the highest possible quality of life for the residents in their care, the Fulton Commons owners allegedly maintained insufficient staffing so they could take more money for their own personal gain. These actions led to a devastating pattern of resident abuse, neglect, and mistreatment."
Between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2021, Fulton Commons received $105.8 million in Medicare and Medicaid funding that was supposed to go toward resident care. Less than half of that actually went to aiding residents, rather, it went into the owners’ pockets while they claimed it was for rent.
Moshe Kalter, the principal owner of Fulton Commons, paid “salaries” to his eight adult children who were each 1 percent owners of Fulton Commons. The salaries were for no-show jobs at the nursing home totaling more than $1 million.
Since the funds were going to fake rent payments and Kalter’s children, Fulton Commons was routinely understaffed which left residents’ calls for help often unanswered. As a result, staff would unlawfully restrain residents, tying them to their wheelchairs or drugging them.
Families reported evidence of abuse on their loved ones: lacerations, bruises and other injuries. Residents often missed medical appointments, medication doses and other treatments. Basic bodily hygiene and nutrition were not managed.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fulton Commons underreported their cases and death count. At one point, one-third of the residents of a single unit died of COVID complications in a 72-hour period.
With the lawsuit, James hopes to remove Fulton Commons’ medical director in place of a qualified physician, prohibit the facility from admitting any new residents until staffing levels meet standards and require the nursing home to engage and pay for a financial monitor to oversee their financial operations, among other requirements.
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