State Attorney General Letitia James has requested that Vincent DiCianni, president and founder of Affiliated Monitors Inc. in Boston, be appointed as the health monitor at Woodbury Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as Cold Spring Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation, according to court documents.
James had previously called for Lisa Wickens-Alteri to be replaced as the court-appointed health monitor due to her involvement in the nursing home’s bankruptcy court proceedings.
Wickes-Alteri is the CEO of Capital Health Consulting LLC, which is in a “strategic partnership” with Abrams Fensertman LLC, the firm representing the nursing home in its bankruptcy proceedings, according to its website.
Attempts to reach Woodbury Heights Nursing and James were unavailing.
James sued Cold Spring Hills in 2022 for abuse and neglect. The suit alleged that the center diverted over $22 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds, resulting in resident neglect.
“Cold Spring Hills’ owners put profits over patient care and left vulnerable New Yorkers to live in heartbreaking and inhumane conditions,” James said in a 2022 press release.
At the end of last year, the home was at risk of closing. The state placed a temporary restraining order on the facility to keep residents in place during the holiday season and later approved a closure plan with a target date of May 15.
The closure plan was dropped after Eliezer Jay Zelman purchased the facility, following an agreement with 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which represents many of the center’s employees.
