Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog
Jacksonville, Clay County and Flagler County have a total of six nursing homes operated by Consulate Healthcare, which is a large national chain. In northeast Florida, Consulate operates: Harts Harbor Health and Rehabilitation; San Jose Health and Rehabilitation; Consulate Healthcare of Jacksonville; Governors Creek Health and Rehabilitation; Consulate Health Care of Orange Park; and Grand Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Our Jacksonville nursing home neglect lawyers have handled many cases against Consulate facilities, including five wrongful death cases. Previously, our lawyers blogged about Consulate’s nursing homes’ poor rankings in 2019 and Consulate’s poor nursing home rankings in 2018.
Consulate manages many of its nursing homes through a company called “CMC II, LLC.” Several years back, a judgment was entered against CMC II, LLC and several other Consulate entities in relation to a claim brought against it by a whistleblower alleging Medicare billing fraud. After originally being set aside by the trial judge, last year the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the judgment in excess of $257 million. This judgment led to the bankruptcy filing.
The Effect of CMC II’s Bankruptcy Filing on Nursing Home Neglect Cases
Ever since the judgment was reinstated, nursing home neglect lawyers have been uncertain what would become of CMC II, LLC, along with uncertainty about the pending claims against it for nursing home neglect or abuse. Days before learning that CMC II, LLC, filed bankruptcy, we filed a wrongful death suit against the San Jose Health and Rehabilitation nursing home in Jacksonville. Thankfully, we sued both the licensee and CMC II, LLC. The licensee was a company related to CMC II, LLC; however, the licensee did not file bankruptcy. As such, we are able to move forward with the lawsuit against the licensee, but the case against CMC II, LLC, is subject to the bankruptcy automatic stay provisions, meaning the lawsuit cannot move forward.
Each nursing home operated by Consulate has its own separate LLC, which is usually named after the address of the nursing home. For example, Governor’s Creek Health and Rehabilitation is a Consulate nursing home in Green Cove Springs. The licensee for Governors Creek is 803 Oak Street Operations, LLC, which is a Consulate entity. So, at least for the time being, our suits against Consulate nursing homes will proceed against the licensee LLC and not against the management company, CMC II, LLC. The effect that this will have on future litigation is unknown.
Suspect you may have a claim against a Consulate nursing home?
As Jacksonville nursing home abuse lawyers, we typically receive calls from a concerned family member of a nursing home resident. Often, family members have a suspicion that neglect occurred, without knowing exactly what happened. If we agree that something does not seem right, we will obtain and review the nursing home records. Typically, the injuries at issue will require EMT and hospital care. We typically get those records as well.
If, after reviewing the records, we think there is a potential basis for a neglect claim, we will incur the expense of having a registered nurse review the records to determine whether the appropriate nursing standards of care were met. If not, we typically accept the case at that point and initiate the claim process. Our Jacksonville nursing home neglect lawyers handle cases on a contingent fee basis. This means that, if we do not make a financial recovery for you, you do not pay us anything. Also, we take the risk of the case costs. In nursing home neglect cases, we typically spend anywhere from $10,000.00 to as much as $150,000.00. These costs typically include expert witness fees, court reporter fees, fees for obtaining medical records and court filing fees. If we do not reach a settlement and receive nothing at trial, you do not owe us anything. Because of this, if we accept your case, you know that we are confident about the strength of the case.