Federal Agents RAID Two Pennsylvania Nursing Homes Where Hundreds Died of COVID

Here's more on the developing story, from the Daily Mail:

FBI agents raided two nursing homes in Pennsylvania on Thursday, including one facility that was already under investigation for criminal neglect after it suffered the worst coronavirus outbreak in the state.  

The FBI executed search warrants this morning at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, as well as Mount Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Allegheny County, the Justice Department confirmed.  

U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said agents from the FBI, the office of inspector general for Health and Human Services, the IRS Criminal Investigation unit and the state attorney general's office were on the scene.

In a news release on Thursday, Brady urged anyone with information on 'suspected fraud' or 'abuse' related to long-term care facilities and the pandemic to report it to the COVID-19 Fraud Task Force.

Further information on the search was not released.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com that the bureau's Pittsburgh unit was conducting law enforcement activity at the two locations but did not provide additional details on the operation.  

The search comes weeks after state officials launched a criminal investigation into the for-profit Brighton Rehab center which had the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the state.

Meanwhile, the Mount Lebanon site made headlines earlier this summer after it was accused of stealing coronavirus stimulus checks from its patients, KDKA reported.

One resident's son told the news station the facility told him they had planned to use his father's stimulus check to pay his balance and other expenses.

Agents were seen carrying out a search operation in Mount Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center as well. The nursing home made headlines earlier this summer after it was accused of stealing residents' stimulus checks.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro last month also confirmed Brighton Rehab was one of a handful of age care facilities being investigated for criminal neglect related to their pandemic response.

Rep. Conor Lamb had also called for a probe after Brighton allegedly failed to use personal protective equipment and began treating patients with hydroxychloroquine without the approval of the health department, KDKA reported.  

Hydroxychloroquine, which has long been used to treat malaria and some inflammatory conditions, has been at the center of contentious and highly politicized debates as a possible treatment for coronavirus.

And from Penn Live:

Federal agents searched two nursing homes Thursday near Pittsburgh, one of which had the worst coronavirus outbreak of any in Pennsylvania and was already being investigated by the state on suspicion of criminal neglect.

U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a written statement that agents were at the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, as well as at the Mount Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The agents were from the FBI, the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services, IRS-Criminal Investigation and state attorney general’s office, Brady said.

More than 330 of the for-profit Brighton nursing home’s residents tested positive for the virus since the end of March, and at least 82 of them died, the newspaper reported.

No other information was available about the searches. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office confirmed the office was involved in the warrant execution but said she could not discuss the searches further.

And NBC News:

Federal and state investigators raided a Pennsylvania nursing home Thursday where hundreds of residents and staff members tested positive for coronavirus and dozens have died, authorities said.

Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the state attorney general’s office and other agencies executed the search warrant at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center northeast of Pittsburgh, said Scott Brady, U.S. Attorney for Pennsylvania’s Western District.

The Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, another nursing home in the Pittsburgh area operated by the same company that owns Brighton, was also searched by authorities on Thursday, NBC affiliate WPXI reported.

Brady did not offer details about the search warrant but he encouraged anyone with information about suspected fraud, abuse or victimization to contact a regional COVID-19 task force.

Last month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that the facility was under investigation over reports of “deeply troubling” conditions and practices.

“I can confirm that Brighton is one of the subjects of our criminal investigations into neglect at nursing homes during the pandemic,” he tweeted.

State Department of Health data show that 447 residents and staff members tested positive for the disease, and 73 people died. In late July, the facility announced that it had no cases for the first time since March, according to WPXI, but its outbreak remains the worst in a Pennsylvania.

FBI raids Pennsylvania nursing home where dozens died following coronavirus outbreak
The facility did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

In a response to Shapiro’s announcement last month, Brighton said in a statement to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that it has “faith that federal, state and local governments, which dictate the required infectious disease control practices and policies, continue to grow in their understanding and ability to support, guide and direct those who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.”