Klein praises $30M Citadel deal, rejects accusations

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State Sen. Jeff Klein’s office has praised as a cost-saving measure the allocation of $30 million from state coffers to a Kingsbridge nursing home with a troubled past, and denied allegations of any “favoritism” or less-than-transparent deals.

A government watchdog group, the Empire Center for Public Policy, had cast doubts on the planned Medicaid reimbursements for repairs and renovations at the run-down Citadel Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The group described the funding as having been hidden away among other budgetary items.

Sen. Klein’s spokeswoman Candice Giove scoffed at the accusation: “Nothing is ‘concealed’ in the state budget. It’s a public document,” she said. 

Aside from the sizeable amount of money that Citadel is set to receive, another aspect of the deal that raised some eyebrows was the fact that Citadel’s owners had contributed thousands of dollars to Sen. Klein’s campaign.  But the senator returned the money on May 2, Ms. Giove said.

The planned reimbursements of $1 million annually over the next 30 years for repairs and renovations were a cost-saving alternative to tearing down the nursing home and building a new facility, Ms. Giove said.

The plan was proposed by the Department of Health and is expected to save the state $78 million, she said. The money would only be released if the nursing home delivers on its promises to renovate, she said, adding that the project was reviewed and approved by an array of state authorities.

“The budget is a document that is negotiated – which means the Senate, the Assembly and the governor,” she said. “Nothing happens without all parties agreeing.”

“It’s not something that was snuck into the budget because Senator Klein wanted it there,” Ms. Giove said.

The Empire Center for Public Policy watchdog group said in its report that the allocation was “unusual even by the standards of New York State government.”

Bill Hammond, the author of the report, said that the deal “looks like favoritism.”

The Citadel nursing home, formerly known as Kingsbridge Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, has been plagued by financial troubles for years, and has struggled to shake the dubious legacy of its former owner.

The previous owner, Helen Sieger, stopped paying her employees’ health insurance premiums in 2008, prompting a six-month strike. About a year later, she was charged with grand larceny for allegedly bribing a hospital employee to refer patients to her nursing home. She died in Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, a facility used by the New York City Department of Correction to hold seriously ill inmates.

The nursing home’s current owners are Leopold Friedman, who holds a 50 percent stake and serves as chief executive, Esther Farkowitz with a 25 percent stake, Gabrielle Philipson with 20 percent, and Bent Philipson with 5 percent.

Jeff Klein, Citadel Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Bill Hammond, Anna Dolgov

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