Summit Park: Day Dismisses Buyer's 'Vague Promises'

Both parties in the failed Summit Park nursing home deal fired off statements today, each blaming the other for the demise of the $32 million deal to privatize Rockland County’s health care facility.

Still, they seem to be in agreement about a few things:

Sympaticare wanted to terminate the agreement because of certain conditions (such as the lawsuits against the sale).

The original deal was to conclude Dec. 31, 2014, but was extended 10 months (they don’t agree on who wanted it).

Sympaticare walked away but then told county legislators it wanted more time.

But there are lots of things that they don’t agree on. The county says Sympaticare has never gone past vague promises to the operational level it would have to reach to take over. The company says on the one hand the county still hasn’t met all of its conditions and on the other hand that it’s ready to make a new deal and take over by Dec. 31.

Shalom Braunstein, the face of Sympaticare, posted this on the Save Summit Park Facebook page at about 3 p.m.:

Dear All, I went to the County Executive’s town hall meeting last night to try and have an honest conversation on what could be done to save Summit Park. Unfortunately, the County Executive seemed to have no interest in discussing the facts and what could be done to still salvage the deal. I had submitted several questions but only one was read and Mr. Day responded evasively and inaccurately.

There were several misrepresentations at the town hall meeting:

1. The County Executive claims that he gave Sympaticare an extension in December 2014.

The truth: Sympaticare decided to proceed with the transaction despite the lawsuits dragging on until December 2014. Sympaticare could have pulled out but committed to the transaction. At that time in December 2014, the County / LDC had no grounds for termination. In essence, in December 2014, it was Sympaticare that gave the County / LDC an extension, not the other way around.

2. When asked about whether the County would have terminated on October 1, Ed Day responded that they did not initiate a closure plan until October 5.

The truth: Sympaticare did terminate the agreement first since the County had not met all of its conditions precedent to closing. However, the LDC also sent a purported termination prior to October 5th.

3. Ed Day said that he wasn’t involved in the sale, it was all the LDC.

The truth: Ed Day has been intimately involved in every step of the sale. He or his deputy were included on many of the emails, phone calls and meetings. Also, Sue Sherwood, the Chairwoman of the LDC, is up for reappointment as the Director of Social Services. It is possible that her chances for re-appointment will be compromised if she goes ahead with the sale.

4. Ed Day says that he thinks it is terrible that the deal turned out this way and that the nursing home residents will have to be transferred.

The truth: Ed Day can still save this deal if he enters into a new agreement with the purchaser, but he has refused to sit down and work things out. He is walking away from the deal and turning his back on the residents of the Nursing Home. The County has not cooperated with the purchaser throughout the transaction even though Sympaticare has experience turning around troubled nursing homes.

5. Ed Day said that he has no choice but to shut down the nursing home since he refuses to fund it into 2016.

The truth: Sympaticare has offered to close the entire deal by the end of the year and possibly take over the operations sooner. Ed Day would NOT have to budget for the facility in 2016, but he could save the jobs of about 200 employees.

6. Ed Day says that it is just a financial decision.

The truth: The County would make over $30,000,000 from the sale and would continue to gain revenue annually through real estate taxes that would top $800,000. In addition, hundreds of jobs would be saved, which would avoid the unemployment burden.

County Executive Ed Day issued this at 4:24 p.m.:

We made the ultimate decision today to close Summit Park Hospital & Nursing Care Center because (1) the former buyer made no real, substantial guarantees to the LDC that he could purchase and safely operate the facility before the end of this year; (2) the former buyer has not made attempts to hire existing employees; (3) the former buyer has never shown nor documented that he has access to the $32 million needed to purchase the facility. Armed with these facts, and the state’s regulatory requirements that force us to choose between closure and the substantial risk posed by Sympaticare’s pattern of unreliable behavior, the County will move forward with its closure plan. We will not risk the welfare of the Summit Park residents and the financial stability of the County on vague promises and gambles that Mr. Braunstein can purchase or legally operate the facility before December 31, 2015.