Van Duyn Owners Drain $12M, Residents Left to Die

SYRACUSE, NY – A trail of death and deceit at the Van Duyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has led to a $12 million settlement and sweeping reforms, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced today. Owners Efraim Steif and Uri Koenig are accused of systematically siphoning millions in taxpayer funds – money meant for resident care – while the facility crumbled into a hotbed of neglect, resulting in preventable hospitalizations, agonizing suffering, and multiple deaths.

The Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) investigation revealed a callous disregard for the well-being of Van Duyn’s vulnerable residents. Steif and Koenig allegedly prioritized personal enrichment over patient safety, operating the nursing home with dangerously insufficient staffing levels. This resulted in residents being left without assistance for basic daily needs, creating conditions ripe for abuse and neglect. The investigation detailed horrific instances, including one resident who died after being strangled by her nightgown when staff failed to properly assist her to the bathroom and communicate her care plan. Another resident was found in rigor mortis after a failure to provide care, assess skin conditions, and monitor following a fall.

The neglect wasn’t limited to fatal errors. Residents were repeatedly sent to hospitals suffering from untreated infections, bed sores, and dehydration, all stemming from Van Duyn’s failure to provide adequate care. Perhaps most shockingly, multiple residents were unceremoniously dumped at Department of Social Services offices without identification, exposing them to immense risk. “For years, residents at Van Duyn endured unacceptable neglect that caused traumatic injuries and tragic deaths,” Attorney General James stated. “We are holding Van Duyn’s owners accountable for these conditions, and ensuring the facility will make all the necessary changes so that its residents get the care they deserve.”

The financial malfeasance ran deep. After purchasing the nursing home in 2013, Steif and Koenig allegedly engaged in a scheme to extract wealth, taking out a massive mortgage on the property and charging the facility fraudulently inflated rental payments. From 2015 to 2022, the nursing home paid its owners over $2 million in inflated rent using Medicare and Medicaid funds, directly starving the facility of resources needed for staffing and maintenance. They also allegedly funneled over $2 million to themselves through inflated salaries for phantom work.

As part of the settlement, Van Duyn and its owners will pay a total of $12 million, with $10 million earmarked for direct improvements to resident care and staffing. The OAG will also install an Independent Health Care Monitor (IHM) and an Independent Financial Monitor (IFM) to oversee the nursing home’s operations and ensure compliance. This marks the fourth case where Attorney General James has secured major reforms at New York nursing homes following investigations into resident neglect and abuse.

“I will always fight for the dignity and rights of vulnerable New Yorkers and I will continue to go after nursing homes and their owners when they fail to take care of their residents,” James vowed. The case serves as a stark reminder that the pursuit of profit cannot come at the expense of human life. The investigation remains ongoing, and further charges are not ruled out.