Hyperion Foundation, AltaCare Corporation, and executives Julie and Douglas Mittleider settled for $1.25 million for providing grossly substandard care causing pressure ulcers, falls, dehydration, and malnutrition while diverting federal funding away from resident care.

Oxford Health and Rehabilitation (Lumberton, MS) — Grossly Substandard Care / Fund Diversion

Outcome: Hyperion Foundation, AltaCare Corporation, and executives Julie and Douglas Mittleider settled for $1.25 million for providing grossly substandard care that caused residents to suffer pressure ulcers, falls, dehydration, and malnutrition while Hyperion diverted federal funding away from resident care and failed to maintain adequate staffing.

Oxford Health and Rehabilitation in Lumberton, Mississippi, operated under a management contract where AltaCare Corporation ran day-to-day operations under contract with Hyperion Foundation as the facility owner. From late 2005 through mid-2012, the combined management structure produced conditions of grossly substandard care: residents were underfed, denied medication, and suffered preventable harms including pressure ulcers, falls, dehydration, and malnutrition.

The care failures resulted directly from Hyperion's diversion of federal funding away from resident care — skimming payments meant for nursing home operations to the point that deficiencies emerged in heating/cooling, pest control, and cleaning, in addition to the critical nursing staff shortages. Hyperion failed to recruit and retain sufficient nursing staff to properly care for residents.

A whistleblower complaint filed in 2010 by Academy Health Center Inc. (the facility owner and landlord) led to government intervention in 2012 and ultimately the $1.25 million settlement announced in 2017.

Primary Source: Mississippi Skilled Nursing Facility, Related Companies, and Executives Agree to Pay $1.25 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations of Grossly Substandard Care to Facility Residents