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Thursday, March 28, 2024

New Mexico sues nursing home for insufficient care to residents

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A New Mexico nursing facility is facing allegations from the state that it failed to provide basic services to its residents.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed the lawsuit on May 8 in New Mexico First Judicial District Court against Preferred Care.

“(Preferred Care looked) to generate outsized revenues at the expense of the physical well-being of vulnerable nursing home residents through false representations to the state's Medicaid program,” the lawsuit said.

Balderas claims the mistreatment started on July 1, 2007, and continues to the present. The lawsuit also contends Preferred Care limited the nursing staff on duty at the facilities, which resulted in it not providing basic care to the residents.

“While the intent may have been to control costs, the effect on resident care was dramatic,” the lawsuit said.

Balderas said in the suit that the facility essentially made false claims on its state and federal assessments about the level of care it was able to provide.

The suit asks the court to require the facility to rectify the procedures, and enter a judgment against it for the services it didn't perform. The suit also seeks an unspecified amount in damages plus court costs.

Besides Balderas, Patricia Padrino Tucker, deputy director of the Medicaid Fraud & Elder Abuse Division at the Attorney General's Office is also an attorney on the case.

State of New Mexico County of Santa Fe First Judicial District Court case number 1:15-cv-00396.

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