Have You Been Injured? We're Ready to Fight for You.

Boone County Nursing Home Battle

Published on Apr 16, 2014 at 8:39 am in Nursing Home Abuse.

While the nursing home industry refuses to spend money on patient care and blames lawsuits for their failure to care for their residents, they don’t mind spending millions suing each other. Northern Kentucky’s two largest nursing home operators are locked in a five-year battle over who gets to run new nursing home beds in Boone County.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the controversy began in 2008 when Loveland-based Carespring Health Care Management bought the license to a large facility in Campbell County after the prior operators lost the license. Carespring operates nursing homes in Fort Thomas and Erlanger. The company planned to split the existing facility by keeping half the beds in Campbell County and moving the other half to Boone County.

As we discuss this ongoing legal battle, please reach out to Thomas Law Offices with any questions about a personal injury matter related to the mistreatment of elders residing in nursing homes.

State Health Plan Dictates Number of Nursing Home Beds

The issue begins with the fact that the number of nursing home beds is tightly regulated out of a need to control Medicaid costs. In Kentucky, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services controls this process through issuance of a “certificate of need.”

The problem stems from the fact that the state’s plan did not show a “need” for new beds in Boone County, even though Census data projects a large increase in senior citizens in that area over the next decade. To address the discrepancy, the state granted an exception to the health plan in 2009 to allow Carespring to move 143 beds from Campbell to Boone County. But this decision didn’t sit well with competitor Baptist Life Communities, based in Erlanger. Baptist Life operates nursing homes in Erlanger, Newport, and Covington.

The Legal Challenges Begin

Baptist Life says it doesn’t oppose new beds in Boone County, but it believes all operators should have a chance to bid for those beds. CEO Dr. Robert Long told the Enquirer the issue was about fairness; if the state was going to allow new long-term care beds in Boone, then all of the area’s nursing home operators should be able to bid for them.

Baptist Life challenged the exception to the state health plan through legal system and got it overturned. Then, in 2013, the Legislature nearly passed a law to help Carespring get the beds built, but Baptist Life was again able to block the action.

Earlier this year, the state tried again to amend its health plan to allow movement of already approved beds to another county under certain circumstances. The state again approved Carespring’s application to move the beds, but in March, Baptist Life sued again to block the move.

Carespring says it has spent about $1 million in legal fees on this dispute; Baptist Life estimates it has spent at least $200,000.

Free Case Evaluation

At Thomas Law Offices, our personal injury attorneys recognize that our potential clients are likely going through some of the most difficult times of their lives. We don't want you to have to worry about paying out of pocket for legal advice when you're just starting to learn your legal rights and options. That's why we provide free case evaluations. We'll offer our expert advice about your potential case and walk you through how we can help you.

Call us or fill out the form below to tell us about your potential case and a personal injury lawyer will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Meet Our Founder

Tad Thomas - Trial Lawyer

Tad Thomas

Managing Partner

Tad Thomas has dedicated his practice to representing plaintiffs in various types of civil litigation, including personal injury, business litigation, class actions, and multi-district litigation.

After graduating with his law degree in 2000 from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University, Mr. Thomas immediately opened his own private practice and began representing injury victims.

In 2011, Thomas Law Offices was established in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the past decade, Mr. Thomas has expanded his firm and now has offices in three additional locations: Cincinnati, Ohio, Columbia, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. He is also a frequent lecturer on topics like trial skills and ethics and technology.

Legal & Firm News

When Prior Authorization Leads to Harm Caused by Delayed Care

In March 2023, the American Medical Association (AMA) released the results of a survey conducted on the impact of health insurance prior authorization (PA) on patient care and outcomes. The survey results revealed shocking information about the extent to which health insurance companies control the type of medical care patients receive. At Thomas Law Offices, […]

Read More

How Do I Sue a Hospital for Medical Negligence?

Medical errors and other types of health care professional negligence have soared in recent years. Data recently published by the National Institutes for Health (NIH) shows that at least 251,000 patient deaths are estimated to be attributable to physician mistakes or other types of medical errors annually. Countless others fall ill or suffer injuries while […]

Read More

Ohio Car and Booster Seat Laws

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), traffic crashes are the leading cause of death and disability for children (aged 0-14) in the United States. But most of these deaths can be prevented. When we put our children in the car, we owe it to them to give them the safest experience possible. […]

Read More
Tad Thomas on The National Crime Victim Bar Association
National Civil Justice Institute - Trustee
Tad Thomas on Lawyer Minds
Tad Thomas on American Association for Justice
Southern Trial Lawyers Association
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
Ohio Association for Justice
Kentucky Justice Association
Fellows of the Litigation Counsel of America
Martindale Hubbell Preeminent
2021 Public Justice Member
AAJ Masters of Trial Law: Champion