GREENFIELD — State health officials are increasing oversight of RegalCare’s 12 nursing homes, including one in Greenfield, following a Boston Globe Spotlight report detailing the facilities’ deteriorating conditions.
The state Department of Public Health on Tuesday issued a notice of intent to revoke the nursing home licenses held by RegalCare CEO Eli Mirlis, whom the Globe reported slashed spending on resident care as he siphoned away money to his other real estate and management businesses. Mirlis has 30 days to request a hearing to challenge the department’s actions.
“This is a significant action taken after a comprehensive review of serious quality and safety concerns at RegalCare facilities,” Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Goldstein told the Public Health Council on Wednesday morning. “Looking at misrepresentations about Mirlis’ licensure history, and looking at a recent settlement involving improper billing of MassHealth and Medicare, our determination is that Mirlis is not suitable nor adequately responsible to operate long-term care facilities in Massachusetts. I want to emphasize, however, that this action is about more than meeting regulatory obligations — it is about protecting people.”
RegalCare at Greenfield, located at 95 Laurel St., was formerly known as Buckley HealthCare Center.
“We take the Department of Public Health’s concerns seriously. The residents in our care and their families are our first priority,” Melinda Monasterski, the RegalCare Management Group’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “We are working closely with DPH, which is conducting regular on-site visits, and we are cooperating fully.
“During the appeals process, we will continue to work with the state as we are dedicated to providing [a] high quality of care,” she continued. “We are communicating directly with residents and families as our main focus is to ensure our [residents] receive safe and consistent care.”
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, posted on social media that she had heard from constituents who are concerned about RegalCare’s future in Greenfield.
“The state is … sending inspectors multiple times every week to each RegalCare facility. The inspectors will assess staffing levels and training, cleanliness, the adequacy of supplies and more,” she wrote. “DPH can appoint a new manager and/or a consultant to take corrective action at RegalCare’s expense, under a law passed by the Legislature.”
Comerford also said she and her team promise to remain vigilant on behalf of residents and staff, “with thanks to the many long-time staff of RegalCare who are laboring under difficult circumstances.” The senator noted that, after hearing constituents’ concerns, she “paid an unscheduled visit to RegalCare last week and promised to return regularly until conditions improve.”
While quality standards sharply declined at the nursing homes Mirlis bought in Massachusetts, the Globe reported that state regulators allowed him to keep acquiring more properties. Mirlis also purported to be a licensed nursing home administrator, per the Globe, even after New Jersey regulators revoked his license and his licenses lapsed in Connecticut and New York.
Goldstein said the license revocation notice does not mean the RegalCare nursing homes are closing immediately or that families must relocate their loved ones. The other facilities are located in Whitinsville, Medford (two facilities), Harwich, Holyoke, Lowell, Quincy, Sudbury, Wakefield, Worcester and Taunton.
Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, a volunteer-run, grassroots 501(c)(3) coalition dedicated to transforming long-term care, released a statement applauding the Department of Public Health’s decision to move forward with license revocation proceedings against RegalCare.
“This action represents an important step in protecting vulnerable residents from corporate operators whose record demonstrates a consistent pattern of prioritizing profit extraction over care quality,” the statement reads.
Dignity Alliance reportedly identified the systemic failures at RegalCare facilities and brought these concerns to the attention of state leadership through public testimony. The coalition states that the issues documented in the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation reflect the type of predatory ownership structure Dignity Alliance has been warning about across Massachusetts’ long-term care system.
“However, RegalCare is not an isolated case. The nine major out-of-state nursing home chains identified in the Spotlight report now own nearly one in five Massachusetts nursing homes,” the statement continues. “Many operate under similar models: acquisition of facilities, rapid service reductions and steering of resources to affiliated entities while care deteriorates. Justice will not be done until all these facilities are corrected and the state ensures that this pattern of extraction and harm cannot continue.”
Dignity Alliance recommends the state place monitoring surveyors in each RegalCare facility, institute temporary state management of the facilities if monitoring reveals continued deficiencies in care, and expand this enforcement immediately to other problematic chains operating in the state.
According to Goldstein, the Department of Public Health has conducted roughly 90 inspections of the 12 RegalCare facilities over the last three years and made four findings of “immediate jeopardy.”
“We’ve used enforcement measures, including restrictions on admissions, corrective actions and financial penalties,” Goldstein said. “MassHealth has also taken steps to hold these facilities accountable, but enforcement must lead to meaningful, sustained improvements in care. And when it does not, we must be prepared to take stronger action. That’s what we are doing now.”
Comerford advises that the Department of Public Health has opened a call center for questions or complaints. The local number is 617-468-2189. The call center can be reached Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding state holidays.
Information from State House News Service was used in this report.
