AG settles with Reliant nursing home chain

HARRISBURG >> The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement with a chain of nursing homes that had been accused of misleading consumers by failing to provide basic services to elderly and vulnerable residents.

Under the settlement announced Tuesday by Attorney General Bruce R. Beemer, Reliant Senior Care Holdings Inc. and related companies are required to pay $2 million to the Office of Attorney General. In addition, Reliant must also implement a series of changes aimed at assuring that staffing levels and care within facilities owned or operated by Reliant match the representations made in marketing materials, care plans and bills.

Between 2012 and the present, Reliant operated 22 skilled nursing facilities throughout the commonwealth, including Chester and Delaware counties. The regional facilities named in the settlement are: Pembrooke Health and Rehabilitation Center in West Chester, Chester County; Coventry Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center, South Coventry, Chester County; Prospect Park Health and Rehabilitation Center, Prospect Park, Delaware County; Reliant Senior Care Holdings and RSC Consoli-

dated Holdings, Eddystone, Delaware County.

The settlement was the result of an investigation conducted by the Office of Attorney General’s Health Care Section, which revealed that Reliant allegedly violated the commonwealth’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law when it misled consumers through advertising and marketing materials, resident assessments and care plans. Reliant promised to provide basic care to residents in its facilities, as alleged by the commonwealth, but failed to do so by leaving its facilities understaffed.

“Reliant facilities failed to deliver on the promise to provide personalized services to meet residents’ individual needs,” Beemer. “The settlement reached today will help us achieve greater accountability while ensuring that residents receive the quality of care they expect. A facility that makes these promises has to follow through.”

Of the $2 million being paid under the terms of the settlement, $1.25 million will immediately go to the Department of Health. Those funds will be used

to fund the Department of Health’s plan to address Pennsylvania’s regulatory oversight of nursing homes.

During the time period in question, it is alleged that Reliant limited the numbers of certified nurse aides at its facilities, rendering the facilities incapable of delivering the basic care that residents were promised and needed. This basic care includes activities such as eating and drinking, incontinence care, transfer from a bed to a chair, repositioning in a bed, dressing, showering, range of motion exercises and daily hygiene.

The terms of the settlement require Reliant to staff in a manner that fully

accounts for resident acuity and individual needs.

The Office of Attorney General’s investigation of this matter included interviews with former employees of Reliant facilities and a review of survey results reported by the Department of Health. The Attorney General’s Office also reviewed documents and information provided by Reliant, which cooperated with the office’s investigation.

The settlement, which requires court approval, was filed in the form of a stipulated final judgment and consent decree in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas.