A multi-year investigation into a Syracuse adult care facility has culminated in a settlement with the state Attorney General’s office over concerns there wasn't enough or proper care for the elderly residents. Chief Assistant Attorney General for Medicaid fraud control Paul Mahoney says the Inn at Menorah Park on East Genesee Street was operating as an independent living and assisted living facility without the proper certification. He says there was concern that the center wouldn’t have the proper care for more medically fragile residents.
"They do not need round the clock, hands-on care. They do not need what's called a skilled nursing facility," Mahoney said. "But they do need someone with skilled medical training to be available on close call and to have an organized plan of checking in on people, rather than sort of an ad-hoc monitor being available if needed."
Over and above the care concerns, Menorah Park was also falling short of certification requirements for assessing incoming residents and the integration of their care.
"This was essentially being done piecemeal and therefore people who needed a higher degree of care than the facility could offer were being admitted but without the facility really having the on-site care available to deliver the services that they needed," said Mahoney.
Under the settlement, the Inn at Menorah Park will pay a $20,000 fine and re-structure its board of directors. The facility must also raise at least $110,000 by the end of next year to assist those who would otherwise not financially qualify for admission. Mahoney says the organization’s board will coordinate a fundraising effort to raise those funds by the end of 2015. Mahoney says the a-g’s office took into consideration the otherwise good reputation of the facility’s parent organization, and wanted the settlement to be forward looking rather than punitive.
