Massachusetts Attorney General goes after nursing homes not paying workers following I-Team reports
BOSTON - The state of Massachusetts is taking action after WBZ-TV I-Team reports revealed that some nursing homes haven't paid their workers for weeks.
Nurses at the facilities run by Blupoint Healthcare said staffing levels and medical supplies have been dangerously low.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is now moving to have another company take over the long-term care facilities.
There has been no comment yet from Blupoint's management. Their offices in Newton were closed Monday. A woman inside told the I-Team to go away.
A judge ordered Blupoint's three long-term care facilities into receivership on Friday. Campbell filed the emergency request to put another company in charge of the homes, telling the court the health and safety of the residents was in jeopardy.
"When new information revealed the possibility of dangerous understaffing and poor quality of care, my office and the Department of Public Health promptly filed an emergency petition and secured a temporary receiver," Campbell said in a statement. "Receivership will help stabilize the situation by taking control of finances and supporting daily operations, while protecting the welfare of residents and staff."
Checks bounced
The I-Team first reported on Blupoint not paying its workers and vendors weeks ago. One employee said paychecks bounced and the company kept promising to pay.
"It's just been a lot of excuses," the employee told the I-Team. "On July 3 we got a text saying on the fifth, the owner would be coming in to sign new checks. They said that he isn't local so that's why it's taking longer."
But those payments did not go through either.
The Department of Public Health said residents in the Blupoint-owned homes are nearly all on MassHealth. The I-Team has learned MassHealth advanced the company more than $2 million last fall.
Court records show, DPH knew as early as March that Blupoint was not paying its employees or its vendors. Since then, dozens of staff members quit and others working without pay were using their own money to buy supplies for residents.
After the I-Team's report, families of residents at Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation in South Hadley requested transfers of their loved ones to other homes.
Rapid Response teams
Last week, the state said it sent in rapid response teams to support the facilities and called for volunteers from Medical Reserve Corps units to help take care of residents.
Lauren Foster, a certified nurse's assistant at another Blupoint site, Blackstone Valley Health and Rehabilitation in Whitinsville, said, "They are family to us. I'm sure the crisis team is amazing, but they don't know their likes and dislikes and how they like things done at a certain time and their preferences on food and all that kind of stuff."
A spokesperson from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement:
"The priority for the Healey-Driscoll administration is to ensure that safe, high-quality care is provided for all nursing home residents. DPH remains actively engaged in this matter, conducting daily calls with facility staff as well as ownership of the facilities, and providing staff and other supports at the facilities. As staffing constraints grow, DPH is now engaging the Medical Reserve Corps and looking for additional volunteers to continue to provide safe, high-quality care for residents at these facilities. We are in daily communication with Blupoint Healthcare and nursing home staff and will continue to provide assistance and monitor the situation."
