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The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“A pair of New Jersey nursing homes where at least 66 people have died of COVID-19 – one of the country’s worst such outbreaks – are connected to a Chicago-area family with a broad reach in the business of long-term care, including ownership ties to more than a dozen Illinois facilities. One of them, in west suburban Willowbrook, had one of the state’s earliest serious COVID-19 outbreaks,” the Tribune reports.

The homes in Andover, New Jersey, are on property owned by companies managed by William Rothner, whose website states that he “built his family’s leased nursing home portfolio” and “directed purchases, in ten states, of nearly fifty facilities totaling over three hundred million dollars.” The Andover homes had 236 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday – 85 more than Illinois has reported for the hardest-hit local facility.
In Illinois, Rothner’s father, Eric, has a history of ties to troubled nursing homes, including one shut down a decade ago by state authorities after repeated inspections found violence, abuse and mistreatment of residents. Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Willowbrook, which had 58 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths as of Friday, is owned by Evanston-based Rothner Health Ventures, a company managed by Eric Rothner, according to state records.
That’s more reported cases than 92% of the 348 Illinois long-term care facilities reporting at least one, and more deaths than 88% of the 223 facilities listing at least one fatality.

There’s a lot more, so I encourage you click through and read the rest, if you can stomach it.
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From William Rothner’s website:
“Avi (William) Rothner is highly regarded as an authority within the Senior Living Financial markets. He is often asked to speak at industry events like the 2nd Annual Interface Seniors Housing Midwest.
“Mr. Rothner’s proven track record managing more than over a half a billion dollars of financing with twenty-plus financial institutions has made him a sought out speaker for Senior Care Investor, Marcus & Millchap, and seniors Housing Business with a focus on Post-Acute transactions and valuation.”
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Also: “Rothner was originally lured into the healthcare field by his father over a decade ago. Avi began his career in New York working for investment companies with a focus on analysis and acquisition of value-add and distressed investments.”
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Here’s his entry at the Nursing Home Database, where you can look up fines, complaints and ratings.
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See also from the Trib’s archives:
-> Owners – But Not In Charge.
-> Beleaguered Nursing Home Manages To Expel 2 State Monitors.
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Meanwhile . . .
“Ninety-three cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths had been reported at Meadowbrook Manor nursing home in Bolingbrook as of the first of the month,” Mark Brown writes for the Sun-Times.
“They’ll need to add Krist Angielen Castro Guzman to the list.
“Guzman was a 35-year-old nurse at the facility and the mother of three young children who cared passionately for her patients and feared greatly for her safety during this pandemic.
“Guzman died Saturday at AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center in Bolingbrook, where, less than five months earlier, she had given birth to her youngest child.
“Guzman died of respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus just one day after being admitted to the hospital and barely a week after falling ill, according to her family.”
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At least this:
“Workers at nursing homes across Illinois who were on the verge of striking have reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract, according to the union representing the workers,” the Trib reports today.
“The certified nursing assistants had threatened to walk out at more than 40 nursing homes on Friday in ‘this time of unprecedented vulnerability and risk,’ according to a statement from SEIU Healthcare Illinois spokeswoman Catherine Murrell.
“But overnight, the union announced it had won ‘significant contract gains,’ including baseline pay of $15 an hour, hazard pay for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and a provision that employees are not required to work without adequate personal protective equipment.”
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See also from the New York Times: Push for Profits Left Nursing Homes Struggling to Provide Care.
“Some with private equity owners, focused on making money, were particularly ill-equipped and understaffed to handle COVID-19.”
Isn’t a push for profits always the problem?
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
Trump’s EPA Rejects Science, Endangers Public Health, And Ignores The Law. Here’s The Latest.
Up to 50,000 unnecessary deaths a year.
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The FCC’s $48 Million Fine Against Sinclair Is Far Too Small For Such A Dishonest Broker
‘Sinclair constantly breaks the law, violates the FCC’s ownership rules, routinely lies to the agency, and fails to meet the public-interest obligations that broadcasters agree to uphold in exchange for their use of the public airwaves.’
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The Ex-Cub Factor
From Manny Ramirez to Mel Rojas.
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ChicagoReddit

MDW TSA Pre-Check Closed from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram

View this post on Instagram

The last time I was in Marquette Park I saw Mos Def and Talib perform with @raynardmuhammad

A post shared by Katie P (@kpappsmear1) on


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ChicagoTube
Soccer Mommy / “Crawling In My Skin”

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BeachBook
I Thought Stage IV Cancer Was Bad Enough.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.
In America, some lives have always been expendable.


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I seem to recall conservatives declaring for years that young black men, Muslims and foreigners didn’t have the same reverence for life that their God-fearing, true American selves did.
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A must-read, folks.


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Everything has happened right in front of our eyes. He fired the FBI Director who was investigating him! Right before our eyes, in real-time.
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The Beachwood Q-Tip Line: Supply and demand.

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Posted on May 7, 2020