For-profit group buys Schervier care center

Schervier Nursing Care Center and the Schervier apartments have a new owner. 

On March 31, Brooklyn-based TL Management agreed to purchase Bon Secours New York (BSNY) Health System, which operates the two Schervier facilities located at Independence Avenue and West 231st Street. 

Although TL Management is a non-sectarian, for-profit company, BSNY CEO Mr. Beato said the buyer proved during the selection process that it was committed to maintaining Schervier’s mission and ministry.

“Preserving the historical mission of Bon Secours was significantly important in the selection process,” he said of the Catholic health system in a phone interview on April 8. 

In this deal, TL Management has agreed to “hire substantially all of the BSNY workforce,” according to a press release. Mr. Beato clarified that meant the new owner will not necessarily hire all the current employees at Schervier, but said he has been transparent with staff who will not be staying on and have committed to help them find work at other facilities. 

Mr. Beato’s own future at the company is uncertain. As of now, he has been tapped to help with the transition, which could take as long as 18 months.

“It is typical, primarily because selling any health care organization is very complex and needs multiple levels of approval,” he said. For example, Schervier must get approval from the federal and state agencies that oversee nursing homes, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Vatican. 

Attorney Aaron Lichtman, a spokesman for TL Management, said Schervier was an attractive property.

“Under the management of Bon Secour, it has become a tremendous property in terms of values, traditions… It has an institutional level of care giving that is extremely high,” he said in a phone interview last week. 

Mr. Lichtman echoed Mr. Beato’s assurances that Schervier would maintain its identity. 

“TL has every intention of continuing the traditions and values that have existed for years and made it a special place,” he said. 

In an emailed statement, Mr. Lichtman explained that TL Management will not run the facility, and will instead lease the Schervier nursing home and apartments to a third-party operator “that has the demonstrated ability to uphold the values and quality of standards which are ingrained in the Schervier Nursing Care Center’s rich traditions.”

TL Management has similar deals with three other nursing care facilities in New York State: Beacon Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Rockaway Park, Achieve Rehab and Nursing Facility in Liberty and Gowanda Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Gowanda.

Beacon and Gowanda were rated average or above-average in terms of quality of care by Medicare, while Achieve received a one-star rating in the same category. All are for-profit entities. 

Critical coverage

An in-depth piece in the Dallas News investigated claims of neglect and abuse at several nursing home facilities owned by Mr. Scheiner and Mr. Lichtenstein in Texas. The article also revealed that in many cases, nursing homes owned by the two men had licenses held by public hospitals even as private companies continued to operate the homes. This licensing arrangement was allegedly designed to funnel more federal Medicaid funds into the nursing homes, while the private companies still controlled the profits.

Mr. Lichtman said the article was biased and not based on fact, and noted that the practice of licensing private homes to public hospitals is common in Texas due to the low Medicare reimbursement rate. He said that in most cases, ratings for nursing homes went up after being purchased by TL Management.

Studies have shown for-profit nursing home facilities are more likely to have problems than their nonprofit counterparts. A 2009 review in the medical research journal BJM found that nonprofit homes had more or higher quality staffing and lower rates of bedsores. 

Mr. Lichtman contended that for-profit facilities actually offer higher quality care, but when they offer more services with the same amount of staff, Medicare lowers their staffing rating. He said in the agency’s eyes, more services offered means the residents need more staff — creating a catch-22 for the for-profits that offer more services with fewer staff.

“There is a profit motivation to provide more care, and a care motivation to provide more care,” he said. Nonprofit nursing homes, he said, often are reluctant to recommend extra services like physical therapy. 

CB 8 intervention

Charles Moerdler, the chair of Community Board (CB) 8’s Land Use Committee, said he has personally observed the opposite in for-profit homes.

“This is not good. This is not good. The way I have seen private entities treat the elderly is troubling,” he said of the Schervier sale. “My concern is the concept, and not the specific enterprise at the moment.”

He said he would flag the issue for CB 8’s Aging Committee and full board to examine. 

Lisa Daub, chairwoman of the Aging Committee, said last week that the panel has yet to discuss the sale, which she noted will not be official for at least a year. 

“It’s something we need to keep our pulse on, though,” she said.

Ms. Daub said she hopes the committee will get the chance to meet with the new management at some point before the official switch. 

“Hopefully Schervier did their homework. I’m sure they have,” she said. 

Mr. Beato said he was not familiar with the criticisms levied against TL Management. Working for Bon Secours for the past three years, he said, has been a blessing.

“I’m confident things will work out for the best for our patients, residents, community, employees and TL Management,” he said.