Stop the sale of troubled nursing home to buyers who face ‘serious charges’ elsewhere, lawmaker says – NJ.com

The state Health Department should reject a request from two nursing home operators with troublesome track records to buy a facility where 11 disabled children died from a viral outbreak last year, a state Senator said.

Sen. Richard Codey, D-Essex, sent a letter to Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal Monday urging him to deny a pending application to sell Wanaque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Passaic County, considering what “patients at this facility and their families have dealt with…in the past year.”

NJ Advance Media reported Friday that Wanaque’s owners and potential buyers filed an application to sell the facility in Haskell to veteran nursing home operators Brent Philipson and Abraham Kraus.

Philipson is a principal in Sentosa Care, which was been named in a federal class action lawsuit two years ago alleging the company had recruited hundreds of Filipino nurses and treated them like indentured servants. Sentosa and other related companies shortchanged the nurses’ pay and hit them with a $25,000 penalty if they quit before the end of the contracts, according to the lawsuit.

Sinai Post-Acute Nursing and Rehab Center in Newark, which Kraus owns, was ordered in December by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $260,000 in back wages and other damages to 174 employees to resolve overtime and record-keeping violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Troubled N.J. nursing home where 11 children died is up for sale

The Wanaque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Haskell saw its admissions curtailed for months after viral outbreak

“Very serious charges have been brought against the potential co-owners, and it would be irresponsible to move forward with the approval process,” said Codey, a member of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “It seems absurd that anyone with this kind of record would be entrusted with the care of more patients. I urge the Department of Health to get to the bottom of these reported concerns before granting the transfer.”

Health Department is required to review and approve the sale of nursing homes.

“We are in the very initial stages of review,” department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said, declining to comment on Codey’s letter. The process includes “a review of the track records of potential new owners,” she said.

Kraus also owns Almeda Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Perth Amboy, and three facilities in Michigan, according to nursinghomedatabases.com.

Philipson and Kraus filed the application May 31, Leusner said. Their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

“We need to be sure that we aren’t jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” Codey said. “We owe it to all current and future patients to make sure that the new owners of this facility are capable of meeting their responsibilities both professionally and ethically.”

Wanaque is just gaining its footing after the rapid spread of the adenovirus from September through November led to the deaths of 11 children. In February, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services imposed a nearly $600,000 fine and harshly criticized Wanaque, saying it found the facility to be ill-prepared to react to the rapid spread of the deadly strain.

Continuum Health Care, Wanaque’s owner, is contesting the penalties.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.