Former Brighton Rehab employee testifies that she was told to falsify records

A former employee at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center said Friday that her supervisor asked her to add names of people who had not worked to the schedule to pad their numbers to meet state staffing requirements.

Susan Harrington worked at the facility, previously known as Friendship Ridge nursing home in Beaver County, from 2008 until she was fired in January 2020.

“Early on, she asked me to put in people’s names who weren’t there,” Harrington said of her former supervisor. “Occasionally, we would put in administrative staff.

“I was surprised. I did it. I’m sorry I did it,” she continued. “I can say I felt pressure. I was worried about staying. I wanted to keep my job.”

Harrington, who spent most of Friday on the witness stand in federal court, testified as part of the criminal trial of seven defendants on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy.

Defendants include Brighton Rehab and Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, along with Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services owner and CEO Sam Halper; Brighton Rehab Director of Nursing Eva Hamilton of Beaver; Michelle Romeo of Hillsville, Lawrence County, who was a regional manager with oversight of nurses at the two facilities; Johnna Haller, Comprehensive’s regional director of social services; and former Mt. Lebanon Rehab administrator Susan Gilbert of Cecil.

The government said the defendants engaged in two separate fraud schemes. In the first, investigators said the defendants earned increased reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by changing patients’ records. In the second, prosecutors said the defendants submitted falsified documents to the state to show they were meeting mandated staffing ratios even when they were not.

The trial began Nov. 16 before U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville. It is expected to last about five weeks.

Harrington, who was given immunity from the prosecution in exchange for her testimony, said Hamilton was her boss and helped her with the staffing sheets.

“She was fully informed,” she said.

In dealing with the staffing numbers, she said Hamilton told her the facility would be fined — or even prohibited from taking new patients — if they couldn’t meet the state requirements.

“I was told by administration it was very important to keep the (patient) census up — to get to the 500 number,” Harrington said.

At one point, the witness said she followed Halper into a conference room and told him about the falsification of the records.

“I went to him. I told him we’re very, very short with nurses. Is there any way you would consider using agency nurses? I told him there were days we were short-staffed — 20 short,” she said. “I told him we’re putting names down of people who aren’t in the building.”

“He said, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing’ and ‘I didn’t hear that.’ ”

But during a lengthy cross-examination, Hamilton’s attorney showed Harrington document after document in which she admitted to having made mistakes on the staffing sheets — as compared with payroll records and invoices he showed her. On the documents submitted to the state, she said she inadvertently left off hours that were recorded elsewhere.

“It obviously happens occasionally,” she said.

During his cross, Halper’s attorney, J. Kirk Ogrosky, showed Harrington several months’ worth of records from 2013 and 2014 that showed Friendship Ridge did not meet staffing requirements and was even cited by the state Department of Health.

“So the county was committing fraud?” Ogrosky asked.

“I don’t know,” Harrington answered. “I was told it is fraudulent. Unless they’re providing direct care to residents, I was told we weren’t to mark their names down.”

Defense attorneys painted Harrington, who at 64 filed a federal age discrimination suit against Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services several months after her termination, as having an ax to grind against management.

It has since been resolved.

“The fact that I was fired certainly impacted how I felt about them,” she admitted.

Harrington told the jury she was surprised that the FBI showed up after she filed her lawsuit to talk to her about her experience at Brighton Rehab.

“I didn’t think it was right necessarily, but I didn’t think it was a crime.”