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Focus arrests revive debate about nursing home

The Daily Star - 6/14/2018

June 14--A felony court case against the former owners of a local nursing home charging endangerment has stirred some talk about patient care under the previous Focus Otsego management.

Joseph Zupnik, Daniel Herman and CCRN Operator LLC, doing business as Focus Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at Otsego, face felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with their operation of the nursing home in previous years. The state Attorney General's Office on May 24 filed a multiple-count complaint against them in Otsego Town Court.

Zupnik and Herman were arraigned before Judge Gary Kuch on May 31, and the return date for the case is in July. State prosecutors alleged that reduced staffing, pay cuts and disregarded warnings were among factors contributing to unsafe conditions when Focus managed the nursing home in the town of Otsego, and the cases of two elderly patients, including one who died, were cited.

On Jan. 19 this year, Centers Health Care announced it had taken over the local 174-bed facility, which now is known as Cooperstown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. Centers Health Care wasn't mentioned in the felony complaint.

The Focus company bought the nursing home off of state Route 28 from Otsego County in 2014 for $18.5 million. Under county ownership and operation, the home was known as Otsego Manor, and the sale sparked some objections.

William Dornburgh of Cooperstown, a trustee of the corporation that decided on the purchaser of the Otsego Manor, didn't support the bid made by Focus. On Wednesday, Dornburgh reiterated his view that Focus wasn't financially able to manage the nursing home and said the criminal culpability of the defendants "doesn't surprise me."

"I'm disappointed with the decision to go with Focus," he said.

After the purchase, Focus cut the nursing home staff from 298 to 225 employees. Patient-care and regulatory issues beleaguered the facility, which was put on probation by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in late 2016.

The Focus purchase was based in making money, not to meet a mission to care for patients, Amelia Fishman of Cooperstown, said Wednesday.

Her husband, Louis, had lived at the local nursing home from October 2012 until March 1, 2017, when he died at age 83, Fishman said. His care was "okay, normal" when the home was publicly owned, she said.

Fishman said she filed complaints with managers in 2016 about her husband's care, which she described as slow, with inappropriate medications and rude treatment by staff.

Fishman said she "jumping for joy" when she heard about the charges filed against Zupnik, Herman and Focus.

"They're going to get what they deserve," she said Wednesday.

According to the felony complaint, charges under penal law against each defendant were three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a felony, and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a misdemeanor.

Each defendant also was charged under Public Health Law with three counts of willful violation of health laws, a misdemeanor.

Rep. Andrew Stammel, chairman of the Health and Education Committee of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, said he hadn't received complaints recently about the Focus-era management of the nursing home.

"I understand people being upset when friends and loved ones aren't receiving the quality of care that they previously received," said Stammel, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected last year.

"If the former Focus owners committed crimes or engaged in other inappropriate conduct, it is my hope that they are brought to justice and held accountable," he said. "We owe it to our seniors to ensure they are safe and being treated with dignity."

Denise Richardson, staff writer, may be reached at (607) 441-7213 or at drichardson@thedailystar.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DS_DeniseR.

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