New Jersey Nursing Home Residents Sue for Negligence, Hardship, and Wrongful Death after Home Closes without Notice
For months before the sudden shutdown, red flags about Princeton Care Center were apparent, including staffing shortages, unpaid bills, and poor ratings related to nursing home malpractice,
Eleven lawsuits have been brought against a New Jersey nursing home, all of which claim it illegally closed without proper notice, a NJ.com article reports. The lawsuits, brought by residents or their families, claim that the precipitous shuttering of doors at Princeton Care Center caused hardship and wrongful death, necessitating the securing of wrongful death attorneys and constituting a blatant act of nursing home malpractice.
In the state of New Jersey, the law dictates that a nursing home intending to close must submit a closure plan and give 60 days’ notice to residents. According to the article, the 72 residents of Princeton Care were given just hours of notice when Princeton Care announced it was closing last September. After the closure, says the article, the majority of the residents were placed in other nursing homes, where they promptly suffered mental deterioration trying to acclimate to new surroundings. Two of the residents died shortly after being relocated, unfortunately requiring their families to secure a wrongful death attorney.
The nursing home malpractice lawsuits against the home charge the facility’s owner, administrators, and health care providers with the following:
- Negligence
- Failure to safeguard residents
- Deviating from accepted standards of long-term care
- Failure to comply with federal and state regulations
- Failure to return funds held in residents’ personal needs accounts
Regarding Princeton Care’s sudden shutdown, New Jersey Health Department officials say the move was the legal consequence of emergency circumstances stemming from the collapse of a license transfer deal that would have rescued the financially struggling home; however, court documents and other records indicate the home was in serious financial and operating straits long before the shutdown, a perfect storm of conditions that create circumstances under which nursing home malpractice occurs and vulnerable residents suffer. The red flags were enumerated by the article as the following:
- Consistent poor ratings
- Hundreds of thousands in unpaid bills
- Millions in mounting losses
- Chronic staffing shortages
- Alleged breach of contract concerning lease payments not made for months
According to the Office of the State Comptroller, Princeton Care’s owner, Gail Bogner, has been made to renounce her stake in two other facilities earlier this year rather than risk the forfeiture of millions of dollars in federal funding necessary to keep those sites open. Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said Bogner’s actions regarding Princeton Care were characterized by “recklessness, neglect, and incredibly poor judgment [that] caused serious harm and trauma to the residents of Princeton Care Center. It presents too serious of a risk to allow them to have influence over any other Medicaid-funded nursing homes.”
Fighting Against Nursing Home Neglect, Abuse, and Wrongful Death
Attorney Brian P. Murphy has dedicated his practice to upholding the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one should not fear that the facility he or she is comfortable in will close without notice, leaving him or her reeling. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy endeavors to hold accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for negligence and abuse and every kind of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.
