Harrisburg, PA – A nursing home company based in Brockway will have to pay nearly $15.5 million in a settlement for a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged the company provided rehabilitation therapy that residents didn’t need.
The lawsuit said that Guardian Elder Care pressured rehabilitation therapists to meet financial goals by providing treatment, even if the patient did not medically need it. This includes residents with dementia and people who were dying and on hospice care.
Although Guardian is based in Brockway, the fraud did not necessarily happen there. Court documents don’t indicate where it occurred, but Guardian operates 69 facilities n Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The two whistleblowers were employees at a facility in Carlisle, PA, near Harrisburg.
The investigation looked at fraud that could have happened between January 2011 and December 2017 and was handled by the Health and Human Service Office of Inspector General. Guardian Elder Care released a statement assuring families that resident care remains their first priority and that they are committed to meeting any obligations under the settlement agreement.
