May 9, 2018
Dear friend,
The Champaign County Board is meeting tonight at 7 p.m. to have a presentation by Altitude Health Services, Inc. and Extended Care Clinical, LLC – the sole bidder to purchase the Champaign County Nursing Home (CCNH).
The meeting will be held at Brookens Administrative Center, located at 1776 E. Washington Street in Urbana, in the Lyle Shields Meeting Room.
You can view the agenda for tonight’s meeting here:
http://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyBoard/CB/2018/180509_Special_Meeting/180509agenda.pdf
This meeting will be an important opportunity for the County Board and the community to hear a presentation by the companies that have submitted a bid for the CCNH. If you look at the link above, you will see that the Agenda for the meeting includes Public Participation as the last agenda item.
CCHCC’s Preliminary Research on Prospective Buyer
The principals involved in the bid for the CCNH are Eric Rothner and his son, William “Avi” Rothner.
CCHCC has begun to do some preliminary research into these individuals and the companies they own, and their track record in the nursing home industry (they own homes or have sought to purchase homes in multiple states).
Here are some items we wanted to share. Our research will be ongoing and we will share more information as we compile it.
1. List of 10 Worst Owners:
Please note that Avi Rothner is actually William Rothner. Here he is listed as William. His name is William “Avi” Rothner.
http://www.chicagoreporter.com/ten-worst-owners/
(CCHCC is currently working to update some of this kind of research, in terms of IL Dept. of Public Health quarterly reports on nursing home violations)
2. A report about Hunter Management, a firm owned by William “Avi” Rothner’s father, Eric Rothner, with whom Avi contracts and also works for. Also, Eric Rothner is one of the principals on the bid to purchase CCNH and we received a letter of recommendations for him (based on financials, not quality of care).:
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/Hunter+Management+Report.pdf
3. A county legislator’s perspective on why they should not sell county nursing home to Avi Rothner (NY state):
http://www.post-journal.com/opinion/local-commentaries/2013/02/legislator-rothner-is-wrong-choice-for-county-home/
4. This is a video of Avi Rothner responding to questions posed by the Chautauqua County board in NY State in 2013. They eventually voted down two separate bids by Rothner and eventually decided to not take bids from him and sold to a different company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5VxjVCnUPs
5. Jamestown, NY twice votes not to sell to William “Avi” Rothner. Broker was also Marcus & Millichap (the same broker for Champaign County):
There are related stories on this page, besides the main story.
http://www.wrfalp.com/morning-news-altitude-health-services-inc-pulled-from-consideration-as-county-home-buyer/
6. Issues with whether Eric Rothner pay his bills, or whether he gets out of debt by using complicated financial and legal corporate structures and maneuvers:
“Omnicare Inc. recently filed suit in Illinois against nursing home facilities owned and operated by Eric A. Rothner for failing to pay for purchase contracts. These purchase contracts apparently include Omnicare’s supply of medications, supplies and other nursing home-related services for the relevant facilities, some of which Mr. Rothner has asserted he no longer controls. The company, however, has argued that rather than no longer failing under his ownership or control, some of these facilities simply have changed ownership to other entities owned by Mr. Rothner in an attempt to avoid paying outstanding debts they owe to Omnicare.”
https://blog.levinperconti.com/2014/09/omnicare_sues_nursing_homes.html
“Eric A. Rothner and dozens of nursing homes that he owns or controls have been ‘consistently delinquent’ in paying Omnicare, violating a host of purchase contracts between the parties, the Des Plaines, Illinois-based pharmacy company alleges in a complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.”
https://www.law360.com/articles/565994/omnicare-sues-nursing-home-owner-over-alleged-28m-debt
7. State of Indiana moving to shut down nursing home owned by Eric Rothner (father of Avi Rothner, both of whom are included in the bid for CCNH):
“According to state records, Northlake is owned by Eric Rothner and Mark Steinberg, who own other nursing homes in Northwest Indiana and Illinois.
On Feb. 1, the state Health Department issued an emergency order requiring Northlake to begin relocating residents after the nursing home lost its license. The facility’s third probationary license expired Jan. 31. In Indiana, nursing homes can only qualify for three probationary licenses in a 12-month period.”
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/nursing-home-residents-put-up-a-fight/article_6602b2f5-a1f9-52f9-a5eb-905aa3b2dbea.html
8. More on Eric Rothner
The concerns focus on Eric Rothner, the Hunter Properties manager, who is mentioned extensively in newspaper reports and legal blogs regarding violations and abuse allegations at nursing-home facilities that he owns or co-owns in Illinois and Indiana.
https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/under-sold/Content?oid=3151439
Please stay vigilant for more important information about the Champaign County Nursing Home and the bid to purchase it.
Sincerely,
Claudia Lennhoff
Executive Director
Champaign County Health Care Consumers