Tri-State Area nursing home company discouraged 911 calls, offered bonuses to limit hospitalizations, ex-employee says

TROY, N.Y. – A former employee of a New York nursing home company says she was fired for blowing the whistle about what she describes as unsafe practices.

The Bronx-based Centers Health Care company oversees the Troy Center upstate and dozens of other nursing homes across New York and New Jersey.  

Former New York nursing home employee describes alleged unsafe practices

From insect infestations in patients’ rooms to holes in the ceiling, former nursing director Cheri Reppenhagen said she complained to her bosses about those problems and more at the Troy Center because she wanted things to improve at the upstate nursing home.

“They would give me wrath about it all the time, but I think they knew that I wasn’t gonna back down,” she said.

Reppenhagen said she pushed back the most when she says administrators discouraged nurses from calling 911 for patients in need. She said she wanted to send a patient to the hospital last year, and the medical director instead told her to wait an hour and reassess.

“I hung up and went and reassessed the patient immediately and called 911,” she said.

“If you had waited an hour, what kind of situation might that have put the patient in?” McNicholas asked.

“Possible death,” Reppenhagen said.

Reppenhagen also showed CBS New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas a picture of a slide from a presentation titled “$10,000 for top administrator and [director of nursing].” She said the Troy Center’s administrator at the time texted it to her in June 2023 and wrote, “It’s a competition that if we improve our hospitalizations the most from all facilities we can win 10k each.”

“It was disgusting, and it wasn’t gonna happen at our facility. Not while I was there. I wasn’t gonna make that a reason to not send people to the hospital,” Reppenhagen said.

Daughter of patient says employees didn’t want to send dad to hospital

Centers Health Care also oversees the Martine Center in White Plains, where Albert Dunn moved after he suffered a stroke in 2019.

His daughter Marie Dunn said she noticed Albert looked extremely ill while at the center in 2021, so she says she urged a nurse to call an ambulance.

“Surprisingly, they were telling me no. Because literally they were saying, oh well, they just gave him some, they started him on a round of antibiotics and he should be OK,” Dunn said.

Dunn said after she threatened to call the police, her dad was taken to the hospital, where medical records show he died four days later from respiratory failure.

“Common sense could tell you. And also as a medical profession, you should know that this man needed to go into the hospital to get the medical attention that he needed,” Dunn said.

CBS News New York first told Dunn’s story last year when a lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James accused Centers Health Care of an $83 million fraud scheme.

Centers Health Care previously responded to the lawsuit with the following statement:

“Centers Health Care prides itself on its commitment to patient care. Centers denies the New York attorney general’s allegations wholeheartedly and attempted to resolve this matter out of court. We will fight these spurious claims with the facts on our side. Beyond that, Centers Health Care will not comment on ongoing litigation.”

Former nursing home employee sues Centers Health Care

Reppenhagen filed a lawsuit against Centers Health Care in July, claiming she was fired because of her complaints.

“People could die and be seriously injured by this policy, and that’s why we’re calling on them to end it today,” said Shane Seppinni, Reppenhagen’s attorney.

Centers Health Care sent CBS News New York the following statement:

“Centers Health Care is fully committed to delivering high-level clinical care to our residents at all of our facilities, as well as treating all of our employees with all of the respect and dignity they deserve. Although we cannot comment on an active lawsuit, we strongly deny these unfortunate allegations made by this former employee.”

Reppenhagen’s lawsuit accuses the Troy Center of using so-called “soft files” for some patient issues, or un-official records that are not uploaded to resident’s files to avoid liability. She believes Centers wanted to limit hospitalizations for similar reasons – to avoid further scrutiny from regulators.

She said she often organized team-bonding activities to try to raise plummeting morale. Nonetheless, she said Centers fired her in January after three years with the company.

“I valued the work I did and how much care I put into what I did. I lived and breathed my job,” she said. “Honestly, I feel like I hope this interview makes one person get a bath. That’s all I keep saying. Like, if it helps one person there.”

Reppenhagen said the company never explained why they fired her, but in her lawsuit, she claims it was retaliation because of complaining about the problems she says she encountered.

Tim McNicholas

Tim McNicholas is a reporter for CBS New York. He joined the team in September 2022 after working in Chicago, Indianapolis, Toledo and Hastings, Nebraska.