DOJ Sues ProMedica Health System And Affiliates for ‘Grossly Substandard’ Nursing Home Services

The United States government has intervened and filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the False Claims Act against ProMedica Health System Inc. and affiliated entities for providing “grossly substandard” skilled nursing facility care or services.

The lawsuit includes HCR ManorCare Inc. and four nursing homes in Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.

ProMedica is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. From 2018 to 2023, it owned and controlled the following four nursing homes: ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Pottstown (Pennsylvania), ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Riverview (Ohio), ProMedica Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation – Greenville East (South Carolina), and ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation – Imperial (Virginia), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ alleges that the four nursing homes provided non-existent, grossly substandard skilled nursing facility care or services that failed to meet the required standards of care under the Nursing Home Reform Act. The complaint alleges that from 2017 to 2023, the defendants failed to develop or follow individualized care plans for their residents. In many cases, the facilities failed to provide adequate wound care to prevent pressure ulcers, failed to maintain residents’ hygiene and to provide showers as required, and failed to provide residents with appropriate assistance with feeding, which led to severe weight loss in many cases.

To conceal the substandard care, in some cases, defendants falsely documented in resident medical records that care and services had been provided to residents when it had not been, according to the DOJ.

The case is United States, et al., ex. rel. Compton v. HCR ManorCare, Inc.