On February 12, 2026, the New York Attorney General announced a $1.3 million settlement with the Center for Disability Services Holding Corporation d/b/a St. Margaret’s Center (“St. Margaret’s), a not-for-profit pediatric skilled nursing facility in Albany, after an investigation reportedly revealed years of resident neglect and repeated failures to comply with federal and state nursing home laws.
St. Margaret’s provides skilled nursing and rehabilitation services to chronically ill and disabled children and other residents insured by Medicaid. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York (NDNY) reportedly revealed that from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2023, St. Margaret’s fraudulently certified it was meeting state and federal nursing home standards while failing to provide adequate care to the children and other residents living there. The facility was consistently understaffed and neglected its young residents, jeopardizing their health and safety. Under a settlement with OAG and NDNY, St. Margaret’s will pay $1.3 million to Medicaid and be monitored by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) for five years.
Under New York law, owners of nursing homes have a “special obligation” to ensure the highest possible quality of life for residents, and to have enough staff to provide adequate care to all residents. Federal New York state laws also require Medicaid providers like St. Margaret’s to have an effective compliance program to ensure they are providing care as the laws require.
The investigation revealed that St. Margaret’s consistently failed to meet federal and state standards of care, endangering its vulnerable residents, including children. St. Margaret’s was not adequately staffed, and one inspection conducted by the New York Department of Health (DOH) found that the facility had failed to supervise three children, immediately jeopardizing their health and safety. In other instances, St. Margaret’s residents did not receive appropriate respiratory care and suffered from medication errors. For example, St. Margaret’s twice failed to administer a resident’s anti-seizure medication.
Based in part on DOH’s findings, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily placed St. Margaret’s into its Special Focus Facility program, signifying it was among the poorest performing nursing homes in the country.
St. Margaret’s also reportedly failed to maintain an effective compliance program to ensure it was following the law and meeting its legal obligations to provide high-quality care. As a result, St. Margaret’s consistently failed to meet federal and state standards for care, yet it submitted false claims to Medicaid for payment certifying compliance with these standards.
Under the settlement, St. Margaret’s admits wrongdoing and will pay $1,300,000 to Medicaid, of which $707,200 will go directly to New York state. The remaining $592,800 will be paid to the federal government. The HHS-OIG will monitor St. Margaret’s Center for five years, overseeing the care and conditions of the facility.
The OAG and NDNY began this investigation after whistleblowers filed a complaint under the qui tam provisions of the New York False Claims Act and the federal False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. The New York False Claims Act allows individuals to file actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.
This is the fifth nursing home that the New York Attorney General has held accountable for resident mistreatment and neglect. The New York Attorney General has been investigating nursing homes throughout New York based on concerns of patient neglect and other conduct that endangers the health and safety of residents and employees, both before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
If your child may have been injured as a result of medical malpractice in a pediatric nursing home in New York or in another U.S. state due to a nursing home infection, nursing home fall, nursing home aspiration, nursing home neglect, nursing home negligence, nursing home abuse, nursing home understaffing, or the nursing home failing to properly care for a vulnerable child, you should promptly find a New York medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your pediatric nursing home malpractice claim for you and represent you and your child in a pediatric nursing home malpractice case, if appropriate.
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