A federal judge in Chattanooga has halted the planned closure of a Georgia nursing home run by the troubled Hixson-based nursing home chain, New Beginnings Care.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Nicholas Whittenburg stopped a shutoff of Medicare and Medicaid payments to Oceanside Healthcare and Rehab on Tybee Island, Ga., after New Beginnings’ Chattanooga-based attorney David Fulton argued that New Beginnings wasn’t being treated fairly.
The Georgia Department of Community Health found “deficiencies” at the nursing home during an inspection on Nov. 5, 2015. Inspectors said the walk-in freezer was empty and broken, the facility only had one working clothes washer, and a broken door contributed to a fly-control problem.
But Fulton said the state didn’t reinspect to see that deficiencies had been fixed until more than five months later on April 25 of this year.
“They’re supposed to come back and take a look at it and confirm that you’ve fixed the problem,” he said.