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By: Ellen Cans
A federal judge tossed a temporary lifeline to the financially ailing Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. As reported by Crain’s NY, the Long Island nursing home announced it will not move forward with the immediate evacuation plans for its roughly 320 nursing home residents. A Nassau County judge allowed is to keep the lights on and residents can stay after it files for bankruptcy, said a lawyer for the nursing home. The facility, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 2, was also forced to pay its staff before the holidays. The facility has over $50 million in debt.
The nursing home, located in Long Island’s Woodbury, has been having financial difficulties for quite some time. Though it is one of the biggest nursing homes in NYS, boasting 588 beds, admission has been on the downtrend with a 56% occupancy rate, leading to financial and legal problems. Owners Bent Philipson and Avi Philipson have been unable to sell or close the facility because they didn’t file the required notice to the state Department of Health, per Crain’s.
The owners’ say the site has been suffering insolvency, and they thereby sought the sudden suspension of the $1.1 million weekly payroll and the evacuation, along with the bankruptcy. In mid-December, employees and residents had been warned that the home may be shuttered abruptly, with the workers being laid off and residents being forced out without time to plan. The emergency evacuation date had been set for before the next court hearing—which was January 6.
New York state’s attorney general had intervened, filing paperwork to prevent Cold Spring Hills Nursing Home from shutting down, calling it illegal, News 12 reported. “The owners of Cold Spring Hills’ attempt to endanger vulnerable residents and lay off their workers just days before the holidays was not only insensitive, it was illegal,” said AG Letitia James. The eviction would cause “immediate and irreparable injury to hundreds of elderly, vulnerable, and disabled people,” the filing added. A Nassau County judge ruled, based on the attorney general’s emergency injunction, to keep the facility open.
This is not the AG’s first intervention with the nursing home. In 2022, James initiated an investigation into the home which led to a $2 million fine against Philipson and a former co-owner for diverting public funds and for alleged resident neglect, Crain’s reported. The facility was also accusations of failing to pay workers’ healthcare benefits, based on a complaint issued by the union 1199SEIU, which represents a lot of Cold Spring Hills’ employees. The legal issues further exasperated the home’s financial troubles, as they led incoming federal funds to be halted until the operators make overdue payments to the union’s benefit fund.
Cold Spring Hills is expected to return to bankruptcy court on Jan. 14 and will return to State Supreme Court on Jan. 22 to discuss the temporary restraining order, per the Long Island Press.
The workers union celebrated the judge’s recent decision to keep the nursing home from shuttering. “Today’s decision allows the dedicated nursing home staff to continue providing care to the residents of Cold Spring Hills through the holidays and New Year, but hundreds of residents and their families deserve a long-term solution to this situation,” said George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU, in a statement.
