Decision expected Friday as AG tries to block evacuation of Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation 

A Nassau judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to allow the "emergency evacuation" of 318 elderly and disabled residents from Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation.

It's an action the New York attorney general is trying to block that also would lead to layoffs of the Woodbury nursing home's several hundred employees.

State Supreme Court Justice Lisa Cairo heard arguments Thursday on the state's application for a temporary restraining order that would prevent the nursing home from removing residents and sending them to live at least temporarily at other facilities, and also force the facility to pay staff.

Cairo ordered both sides to return to her Mineola courtroom at 10:30 a.m. Friday, at which point her decision is expected.

Alee Scott, chief of the Civil Enforcement Division of the state attorney general's Medicare Fraud Control Unit, said in court that Cold Spring Hills' plan to remove residents on just a few days' notice is dangerous, illegal and will cause "irreparable harm."

Her office said in a filing that prompted the court proceedings that the facility filed a "notice" of the planned action to state health officials Monday, saying the evacuation would begin Thursday.

"No nursing home operator has ever tried this because it is so irresponsible and it is so dangerous and it is so illegal," Scott said. "It is not in keeping with the numerous procedures, laws and regulations set by the Department of Health and by the federal government."

But attorneys for Cold Spring Hills, Long Island’s second-largest nursing home, told Cairo on Thursday that ownership of the facility — led by nursing home magnate Bent Philipson and his son, Avi Philipson, the facility’s managing member — no longer has the resources to meet the $1.14 million weekly payroll.

"There is not enough money coming into the facility to pay critical expenses, including the payroll that needs to be paid to keep the facility open for any significant period of time," said attorney Paul Kremer. “... We are in a traditional insolvency situation."

While Cairo didn't issue a ruling Thursday, she asked attorneys for the nursing home to consult with their clients about continuing to make payroll through Jan. 2. Staff will receive their regular paycheck on Friday, facility attorneys said in court.

The additional two weeks, Cairo said, could provide the state Health Department enough time to consider an application by Eliezer Jay Zelman, who owns several nursing homes elsewhere in New York, to become the facility’s temporary receiver, taking over all operations, including paying staff.

The additional time, the judge said, also would allow the nursing home to negotiate with union officials on the potential for utilizing a court-restrained account — that includes money owed to the company from compensation for Medicaid and Medicare services provided to residents — to temporarily pay staff.

But Ira Lipsius, another Cold Spring Hills attorney, questioned whether two weeks would make a difference.

"We’re just kicking the can down the road," he argued, before Cairo abruptly adjourned the hearing.

Department of Health officials declined to comment Thursday on the proposed emergency evacuation. A department spokeswoman previously said Zelman and Cold Spring Hills have failed to provide all the documents needed to consider the receivership application or a potential ownership change.

The financially troubled nursing home has been struggling for months to pay its staff, owes more than $50 million to creditors and has been desperately seeking a buyer.

In an affidavit filed Thursday, Cold Spring Hills administrator Edline Joseph said an emergency evacuation is necessary if the facility can no longer pay its staff, which could lead to employees walking off the job. The majority of Cold Spring Hills employees are members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

"To protect the residents, we would need to commence evacuation before a critical loss of nurses and aides, as such staff are needed to ensure that residents are evacuated safely," Joseph wrote.

Nursing home officials, she added, are working to identify other Long Island-based elder care facilities to relocate residents.  

Many Cold Spring Hills residents suffer from dementia or are on ventilators, including 70 nursing home residents who are considered "hard to place," the state attorney general's office said in Wednesday's court motion.

In a letter to staff Tuesday, Joseph said the facility would close Dec. 31, with layoffs beginning Thursday, although they would work to reopen under new ownership or postpone the closure.

Lisa Wickens-Alteri, the facility’s independent health monitor, said during Thursday's court proceeding the nursing home is in "unchartered territory."

"I would prefer, as my recommendation, not to evacuate," she also said. "But if there’s no one to care for the residents, or we go into our emergency supply for food and some of the goods we need to have on hand for emergency preparedness, then it becomes a true emergency."

In December 2022, the state attorney general's office filed suit against the nursing home, charging the facility neglected resident care and skirted state laws through a fraudulent business setup designed to enrich its owners.

In April, Cairo appointed Wickens-Alteri and imposed a $2 million penalty as part of the resolution of the lawsuit.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.