In April, the financially troubled Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation submitted a plan to the state to close the facility, leaving Long Island’s second-largest nursing home unable to serve for months. new residents whose investments could have generated income for the struggling operation. records show.

When the Woodbury nursing home never finalized the closure plan, a state health official told the facility’s administrator in a September letter that the document was ‘considered withdrawn’ .

“If Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation wishes to proceed with a closure, then a resubmission is required,” Health Department Director Stephanie Paton wrote in a letter Newsday recently obtained from the state.

News of the proposed closure has not been made public until now, with many court documents in the case containing redactions. Federal regulations prevent nursing homes from accepting new residents while a closure plan is under review, records show.

By closing the doors to Cold Spring Hills, more than 330 elderly and vulnerable residents would have immediately needed new housing – in many cases uprooting them from the only home they had known for years. Many Cold Spring Hills residents, records show, suffer from dementia, while others suffer from substance abuse disorders and mental health issues.

“Closing a nursing home poses significant risks to residents and can have far-reaching consequences for families, staff and the community as a whole,” said Richard Mollot, who advocates on behalf of nursing home residents. retired as executive director of the Manhattan-based Long Term Care Community Coalition. . “Residents may experience “transference trauma,” marked by severe emotional distress and decline in physical health. This can even lead to the death of the resident. »

Closure of a retirement home in New York, it requires 120 days’ notice to the state health department, approval of the closure plan by state officials, and advance notification to each resident, their next of kin and his doctor, according to state officials.

For months, the owners of Cold Spring Hills have been trying to sell the facility, which was obtained last year. one of the nation’s largest federal financial penalties for endangering patient safety. It is still unclear whether the owners intend to accept new patients while looking for a buyer.

Adding new residents would generate much-needed revenue that could potentially be used to repair the aging building and its many physical and mechanical problems, according to Lisa Wickens-Alteri, the nursing home’s court-ordered independent health monitor.

An October 16 report from Wickens-Alteri stated that “once a new medical director is confirmed, admissions will begin once admissions policies and protocols have been reviewed and complied with.” The current medical director resigned earlier this month.

It is unclear whether the health supervisor has the authority to dictate the acceptance of new admissions or whether she can only recommend it.

A Nassau judge appointed Wickens-Alteri as an independent health monitor for the nursing home in April as part of the resolution of a lawsuit between New York Attorney General Letitia James and Cold Spring Hills, which included a financial penalty of more than $2 million for the nursing home owners.

James had charged in the lawsuit that the facility neglected resident care and circumvented state laws through a fraudulent business setup designed to enrich its owners.

The nursing home’s population dropped more than 13 percent, from 388 residents in May to 336 at the end of September, Wickens-Alteri wrote in her court-ordered reports. The population decline, Wickens-Alteri said, has led to a decline in daily income.

Although Cold Spring Hills is now allowed to accept new residents, it is unclear whether the facility’s ownership is on board with such a plan.

During a Sept. 19 court proceeding, Cold Spring Hills attorney Paul Kremer suggested that the facility’s co-owner, Bent Philipson, was not interested in adding residents while helook for a buyer.

In Philipson’s view, “a better and more viable way to keep the facility in balance while we search for a new buyer is to continue operating at the slightly lower census levels,” Kremer said, according to a court transcript.

Brian Steinwascher, an attorney with James’ office, told the court that Cold Spring Hills’ owners were using the facility’s economic woes as “leverage” to justify closing its doors or to force a sale.

“They like to lose money,” Steinwascher said, according to court records.

Kremer, Wickens-Alteri and the state attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

At the beginning of September, a potential buyer had started to visit the retirement home and a decision regarding the the sale of the building was expected “soon“, Newsday previously reported.

The state health department said this week that Cold Springs Hills has not yet submitted the necessary certificate for a proposed change of ownership.

But Kremer told the court the facility would either be sold or closed.

“One way or another … there will be an approved buyer or there will be no installation,” Kremer said, according to the Sept. 19 court filing.

Regarding the future of Cold Springs Hills, Mollot called it “very troubling that a facility is facing significant allegations of substandard care and fraud, failing to take the necessary steps to stabilize the basic ownership and operational issues.

While the retirement home was monetary hemorrhageofficials have also been facing the resignation of dozens of staff members for months.

The health watchdog’s October report said that while staff departures had slowed somewhat, “day-to-day operational and financial issues” including repairing the leaking roof and a broken elevator breakdown, as well as settling overdue invoices with suppliers, “requires immediate attention.”

State and federal regulators have levied more than $600,000 in fines and penalties — the highest of any nursing home on Long Island — on Cold Spring Hills over the past three years.

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has been with Newsday since 2011. He is an alumnus of Queens College and American University.