Can this home be saved?

Can the Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center be saved?

The Benjamin is a nearly century-old Mission Hill nursing home, currently serving 71 elderly residents, that has suddenly found itself on the brink of collapse. It’s a landmark in Boston’s Black community.

Though the home has generally received high marks for care from state regulators, it has been plagued in recent months by catastrophic cash woes. For nearly a month in late 2023, the center missed payroll. Permanently closing, as early as this summer, is very much on the table.

Acting on a petition for receivership filed by the advocacy group Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Suffolk Superior Court judge pushed out the home’s director, Tony Francis. In his place, veteran Boston attorney Joseph Feaster Jr. was appointed as the receiver and is in charge until further notice.

Feaster is a perfect choice for the role: The former Boston Housing Authority interim administrator has extensive experience running things, knows community health care, and has done duty as a courtappointed receiver before.

But his presence is no guarantee that the place will survive. No one seems to be sure whether the home has enough cash to keep its doors open.

“I want to determine first and foremost how to deal with employee morale,” Feaster said in an interview. “The good thing is, I know the place, I know some of the staff. Will it continue or dissolve? That would be pure speculation on my part.”

Feaster’s concerns about morale are well founded. The push for receivership started with a groundswell of complaints by brave employees who weren’t getting paid. They insisted that mismanagement was putting this community jewel at risk. Many of them would eventually file affidavits detailing their claims of bad management decisions, poor staffing choices, and deep financial management. Constant turnover among the institution’s board of directors has also arguably led to lax oversight and accountability. The Benjamin didn’t reach its current plight by mere happenstance.

Some note that just two years ago — when federal COVID-related relief was flowing in — the center was flush with cash. So why is it insolvent now?

In statements to the court, some employees have pointed a finger directly at Francis — whose compensation was a stunning $628,592 in 2021, the last year for which records are available.

One of the most surprising statements employees have made about the former director is that he personally loaned the nursing home money — making the place literally indebted to him.

In response to questions I emailed to his spokesman, Francis confirmed the unusual transaction.

“The home needed funds for continued operations,” Francis said. “The board approved the loan and the interest rate was lower than the home would have obtained from a commercial lender.”

Francis insisted that the root of the home’s problems was simply low Medicaid reimbursement from the state. He says those rates were insufficient to manage the home — though that formula has sustained the place for years. He rejected the notion that he bears any culpability for the current state of the institution.

Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell was among those who advocated for receivership. In a statement Friday, she made it clear that her questions are far from answered.

“New details about Edgar Benjamin Healthcare’s inability to pay its workers present a serious and imminent risk to resident care,” Campbell said. “We supported residents in securing this receivership to help protect resident safety and ensure employees are getting paid. At the same time, my office will continue to look into allegations of the facility’s financial mismanagement and non-compliance with its nonprofit filing obligations.”

Many will cheer the receivership as the turning point the place has needed, and their feelings of relief are understandable. Seeing the center survive is their priority.

But the huge questions of how this crisis came to be can’t just be dropped. There is an urgent need to account for how this place went broke, and why no one — not its board or state regulators — was able to prevent it.

Justice just might depend on it.