Three New York-based owners have taken over management of five Genesis nursing homes in Vermont.
On Oct. 30, David Gamzeh, Akiva Glatzer and Akiko Ike started running the Genesis health and rehabilitation centers in Bennington, Burlington, Berlin, Springfield, and St. Johnsbury.
They have filed an application with the state for approval to buy the cash-strapped facilities, which have been the site of Covid outbreaks and safety violations.
Alice Harter, a long-term care ombudsman for Vermont Legal Aid, called it a “sneaky” process, with little transparency about how the change in ownership will impact residents at the five homes.
But Monica Hutt, commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, said the state would thoroughly review the application. “Our goal is always that any change is going to be for the better and move things forward for residents and for families that are associated with those facilities,” she said.
Gamzeh, Glatzer and Ike bought the properties and took over management of the homes on Oct. 30 at midnight, according to the application.
As of Friday, only a plastic sheet covering the sign at Burlington Health & Rehab showed that anything had changed.
The trio will continue to operate the homes even though it will take months for them to get the permissions to buy them. The sale won’t be approved until at least mid-January, Hutt said.
It’s not the owners’ first foray into nursing home ownership in Vermont. Gamzeh, Glatzer and two other partners bought Barre Gardens Nursing and Rehab in 2017. They tried at the time to buy four nursing homes in the Northeast Kingdom, but ultimately that deal fell through.
Gamzeh owns a stake in at least 36 nursing homes nationwide. Glatzer is involved in 39. It’s difficult to track their involvement and ownership, as each nursing home is registered as a different LLC, rather than under an umbrella company.
Gamzeh and Glatzer also own more than a dozen elder care facilities in Pennsylvania through their company Priority Healthcare Group, which has been criticized for low staffing levels and poor care.
A citation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from earlier this year reports that staff at Barre Gardens failed to stop patient harm after two residents wrapped a blanket around a third resident and “beat on” the person.
Neither Gamzeh, Glatzer and Iko nor a PHG spokesperson responded to interview requests.
Priority Healthcare Group will provide “consulting services to each facility” starting on Oct. 30, according to the application.
Harter wrote a letter to legislators saying that she was concerned the owners were operating the facility without state review. “This all seems extremely premature given that they have not applied with the state/AHS to buy the homes,” she wrote. “I feel that they are currently taking advantage here in VT while things are very unsettled.”
Harter said she wrote the letter as a private citizen, and not in her role as ombudsman.
She noted that the process to review nursing home sales in Vermont is a new one. “Is it robust enough to try to help keep our most vulnerable Vermonters safe?” she wrote.
Lawsuits and outbreaks
The homes Gamzeh, Glatzer and Iko are seeking to buy have been the targets of lawsuits and Covid outbreaks.
Attorney General TJ Donovan sued Genesis, citing Berlin Health & Rehab, Burlington Health & Rehab, and St. Johnsbury Health & Rehab for patient neglect. In one incident, staff at the Burlington facility delivered the wrong food tray to a patient, who ultimately choked on a grape and died.
The company settled in February for $740,000.
Genesis facilities around the country have been ravaged by Covid.
Among them was Burlington Health & Rehab. Thirty-nine residents tested positive during an outbreak this spring and 11 died. Some family members said the nursing home could have done more to protect residents.
Rutland Health & Rehab, which is owned by Genesis, but is not part of the sale, has also been hit by an outbreak.
The pandemic has caused revenue and occupancy have plummeted. The national company lost $62 million in the third quarter, which ended on Sept. 30, according to its quarterly earnings report. An assessment by the company “raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date the financial statements are issued,” the report read.
Genesis reported this summer that it planned to sell off a number of nursing homes nationwide.
Hutt promised the state would conduct a thorough review, and would analyze past violations, past records from the new owners and the quality of their other facilities.
She said the state holds itself to a high bar when it comes to elder care. “We know we’re pretty aggressive in pursuit of quality adherence to standards,” she said.
The facilities will be renamed as part of the sale: The Bennington facility will become Southern Vermont Nursing and Rehabilitation; Burlington will be renamed Queen City Nursing and Rehabilitation; the St. Johnsbury facility will be called North East Vermont Nursing and Rehabilitation; the others will be called Berlin Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation and Springfield Rivers Nursing and Rehabilitation.
