Bad Nursing Homes & The Bad Men Who Run Them

Page edited: October 17, 2024

Why are there so many “bad” nursing homes; why are “bad” men permitted to run them; and why isn’t more done to stop this affront?

I wrote this page to expose how vulnerable our loved ones are in nursing homes, particularly due to greed and lack of oversight. It comes as no surprise that people are curious about these men – they abuse our trust and harm those we care about. I’ve fought against them and the nursing homes they run, advocating for the families they have hurt. If you or someone you know is struggling with a nursing home situation, please reach out to me.

Greedy Nursing Home Owner Putting Money First — The answer’s right in front of your face!

Money! What typically motivates “bad” conduct is avarice. Most nursing homes make a lot of money for their owners. A lack of oversight, manipulative accounting practices, and a deep government pocket create the perfect storm to abuse and harm our most vulnerable population.

Real Estate Shell Games

The secret sauce is that owners use an amalgamation of real estate companies. Company A may own the land under the structure; Company B may manage the facility; Company C may provide another aspect of the operation; Company D will pay salaries; and so forth. A lack of oversight and strong laws permits this to occur. Once one “bad” corporate structure or operator is exposed, another company with the same individual (and family member behind the scenes) is established.

Meet The Men Who Should NOT Be Running A Nursing Home

We highlight a sampling of these “darlings” and how they spent their largess:

Jon Robertson

Phoenix Health Group, in 1994 began acquiring facilities in California. He served jail time for filing false tax returns. Some of his expenditures were Harley-Davidson motorcycles, diamond rings, , and cocaine. His facilities were cited for numerous violations that lead to poor care for residents.

William Rothner

Allied Health Services, Inc., in 2018 bought a facility in one corporate name and when investigated for violations none were found because he listed under another corporate name.

Portopiccolo, a private equity firm started in 2016, operates over 100 facilities under many different names, received a 2 (out of 5) rating in over two-thirds (2/3^rd) of facilities as determined by the federal government (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “CMS”).

Ephraim Lahasky

Had a bad record of operating homes in Pennsylvania. In 2021, an application to purchase 3 facilities in Vermont, SevenDaysVt, was submitted by his wife. The ownership group did not have to disclose the record of her spouse.

Shlomo Rechnitz

Has been permitted to operate 81 facilities (with over 9,000 beds) in California without a license since 2014. Then Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a court action to oppose his application to purchase further citing him as “a serial violator of rules within the skilled nursing home industry”.

Bent Philipson

2019, one of the owners of SentosaCare, New York, a federal judge determined that the owners had violated human trafficking laws when they used financial threats to coerce over 200 Filipino nurses, who were underpaid and overworked, from leaving their jobs. All were recruited from the Philippines, not paid what they were promised, and threatened with money fines if they quit.

Benjamin Landa

2017, Hidden Lake Care Center, Kansas, was forced to undergo additional scrutiny by CMS. Over a five-year period, they were sued at least 9 times for abuse and death. Mr. Landa is part of the SentosaCare ownership conglomerate.

Joseph Schwartz

2021, Skyline Healthcare, charged with failing to pay employees and taxes in 95 facilities in 11 states. Additionally, Arkansas claims that he over-billed causing the state to overpay him more than $3.000,000.00. Sued numerous times, one suit claimed that maggots were found in a resident’s catheter.

Louis Schwartz

Yes related to the above; his son, formerly a vice president of Skyline, owns nursing homes in New Jersey (“Andover Subacute II”, now known as “Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center”). The discovery of 17 bodies stuffed into a tiny morgue at the facility early into the Covid-19 Pandemic led to an investigation was launched. Calls for another investigation were launched after the omicron variant due to their having the highest number of long-term care COVID patient cases in the state.

Forrest Preston

The 2020, sole owner of Life Care Centers of America, owner of nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the country. This billionaire owner has-been in 2016 paid the United States Department of Justice $145,000,000.00 for Medicare fraud. Since the Pandemic overly 97,000 people contracted Covid, over 9,600 people died, and they continue to lose essential staff.

We’ve written another page on bad men who run nursing homes.

Bob Dean

Another example of a “bad” nursing home operator. During Hurricane Ida, he exposed 800 of his residents to serious harm by temporarily “housing” them in a warehouse. Charged with 15 crimes for this breach of trust, he merely paid a fine of $8.2 million and received no jail time.

Nursing Home Advocates

If you or someone you know is injured, please consider contacting Adams Law Firm, P.C. We have a successfully advocated on behalf of those injured due to harm, abuse and neglect throughout New York State and Northern New Jersey. There is no legal fee until we are successful.

Should you have any question, please contact us toll free at 888 MY 911 LAW (888.699.1152), or by email through our contact form here. Thank you.