Represented Long-Term Care Facility in Response to New York State Attorney General's Office Investigation

We represented a long-term care facility in its response to an investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office relating to the maintenance of minimum staffing levels during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. After initially assisting the facility, prior to the pandemic, with negotiating an Assurance of Discontinuance setting minimum staffing levels, the facility called upon us to defend its compliance in the wake of widespread staffing shortages arising out of the pandemic. We marshalled the facts, both facility-specific and on a state-wide basis, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on staffing in long-term care. Based on our analysis, we successfully convinced the Attorney General’s Office not to pursue additional enforcement action. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of minimum staffing in nursing homes has become a major flash point, and this matter is important because it establishes that the determination should be viewed in the context of a reasonableness standard.