Montco-Based Nursing Chain Must Pay $2 Million In Damages: Attorney General

A nursing home chain with locations around Pennsylvania, including one in Montgomery County, must pay $2 million in damages after failing to provide basic care to its residents, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced Tuesday.

Attorney General Bruce Beemer said that his office had reached the settlement with Reliant Senior Care Holdings, which, since the lawsuit, has changed its name to Priority Healthcare Group.

"Reliant facilities failed to deliver on the promise to provide personalized services to meet residents' individual needs," Beemer said in a statement. "The settlement reached today will help us achieve greater accountability while ensuring that residents receive the quality of care they expect. A facility that makes these promises has to follow through."

In Montgomery County, the group operates the Pottstown-based Coventry Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center on 3031 Chestnut Hill Road.

Specifically, Beemer said Reliant misled residents through advertising and marketing materials which suggested that they would be well cared for. Instead, they left their facilities understaffed, officials said.

By only staffing a limited number of certified nurse aides at their facilities, Reliant homes were unable to provide simple care like help with eating and drinking, incontinence care, transfer from bed to chair, dressing, showering, and other daily hygiene needs.

Reliant's 22 nursing facilities have operated in several counties in the state since 2012, including locally in Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware. The settlement requires that Reliant - now Priority Healthcare Group - "staff in a manner that fully accounts for resident acuity and individual needs."

Image courtesy Office of the Attorney General.