N.J. nursing home where 17 bodies were discovered in makeshift morgue hit with $220K in federal fines

The Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in Andover.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

Federal regulators have slapped the troubled New Jersey nursing home where 17 bodies were discovered on Easter Sunday in a makeshift morgue with $220,235 in fines and penalties, finding failures in infection control practices in a facility where COVID-17 has so far claimed at least 66 lives.

Andover Subacute Rehabilitation Center in Sussex County was also cited by U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for lapses in patient care, amid the deadly outbreak.

CMS, however, made no reference or discussion to the bodies being temporarily stored on site, after a surge in deaths overwhelmed administrators over the holiday weekend.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Thursday that a National Guard deployment will bring 22 soldiers to the nursing home as soon as Friday to help provide care. New admissions have been barred by the state and the facility was ordered last month to retain a new infection control specialist and other key personnel.

Andover Subacute consists of two separate buildings. Andover I is a smaller, low-rise facility, where 13 people have died from the coronavirus. Andover II, a larger two-story complex, is set up for dementia and Alzheimer patients and those with mental health issues. To date, 53 people have died there. The CMS enforcement action was focused on Andover II.

The owners must now submit a so-called Plan of Correction for the deficiencies cited by CMS inspectors within ten calendar days.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., who has been pushing to get the National Guard into Andover Subacute as well as the state’s VA nursing homes, had pressed early for an investigation into the situation at Andover in the days immediately after the Easter incident.

“I am absolutely disgusted and heartbroken for the residents, staff, and families about the conditions this CMS inspection has uncovered,” Gottheimer said. “The loss of life and the circumstances that so many of the residents faced are a complete tragedy.”

Carol Novrit, administrator of the Sussex County Department of Health and Human Services told NJ Advance Media that the CMS report confirmed the county’s suspicions about conditions in the facility, calling them “deplorable.”

“The report underscores that the facility really requires assistance and the state now has seen fit to provide the intervention and resources,”Novrit said.

CMS inspectors went to the facility on April 21, after the first reports of more than a dozen bodies being stored unclaimed made national headlines. According to a letter sent to administrators, the survey found the facility was “not in substantial compliance.”

An inspection report, which has yet to be publicly released, noted failures in proper infection control practices that had the potential to affect all residents in the facility through the development and transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

But the survey, according to the congressman’s office, found patients with elevated temperatures and no documented clinical assessment or follow-up from medical staff. A patient under investigation COVID-19 was also found to have been being placed in a room with a resident who was asymptomatic. After the patient’s test came back positive, the resident was only then moved to a different room.

One staff member was observed with a face mask positioned below both her nose and mouth, down below her chin, in close proximity to eight other staff members, as she loudly called out assignments and instructions.

Multiple instances of insufficient protective equipment usage was also cited.

Sussex County Freeholder Anthony Fasano said what the inspection uncovered was horrifying and inexcusable.

“The conditions that many of our residents face in this facility were completely outrageous and unsurprisingly non-compliant with federal regulations, according to this report,” he said. “My prayers are with the residents, staff and families who have been impacted by this terrible crisis.”

According to current county data, the Andover Subacute II facility currently has 133 residents and 54 staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, Chaim “Mutty” Scheinbaum, 37, the CEO of Alliance Healthcare of Lakewood, which owns the facility, said Andover Subacute I and Andover Subacute II were separately licensed long-term care facilities with separate patient populations, but “both have implemented similar protocols” to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“Federal regulators with CMS have been conducting a nationwide review of long-term care facilities to review their infection control protocols. The review of Andover Subacute I concluded that the facility was in compliance with applicable guidelines. CMS noted areas of improvement for Andover Subacute II, but determined that the facility’s remediation plan was acceptable as fatalities continue to drop at the facility,” Scheinbaum said. “We look forward to continuing our cooperative relationship with CMS and the New Jersey Department of Health as we, and nursing home patients and staff across the country, continue to battle this deadly virus.”

In addition to Andover, Scheinbaum owns nursing homes in Pennsauken and Cinnaminson in New Jersey, and two other nursing homes in Pennsylvania, those records show. In its last inspection by CMS, Andover II was rated just one out of five stars, or “much below average.” Andover I ranked slightly better, with three out of five stars, or average.

Last year Andover Subacute received $22.3 million in state Medicaid funding. With a daily Medicaid rate of $206.83 at Andover I, and $192.56 at Andover II, the nursing home this year to date has so far received $7.9 million in Medicaid payments, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Gottheimer this week introduced legislation with Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., to codify federal requirements that nursing homes report communicable diseases, infections, and potential outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that residents and their families be kept informed of infections inside the facilities. The rules would also require facilities have a crisis plan in place to manage an outbreak and a stockpile of personal protective equipment on hand.

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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com.

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