A grand jury indicted the former administrator of Mount Lebanon (Pa.) Rehabilitation and Wellness Center Feb. 24 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, healthcare fraud and obstruction of a federal audit.
Susan Gilbert is accused of directing nursing home staff to falsify work records to make it appear as though the facility was meeting minimum staffing requirements, according to a Feb. 25 statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
"From 2018-2020, Gilbert and co-conspirators deprived seniors of patient care using inflated nursing hours, falsified timecards and other schemes that they concealed with two sets of records," said U.S. Attorney Scott Brady.
According to the U.S. attorney's office, Ms. Gilbert directed nursing managers and administrative staff to clock-in for shifts they didn't actually work, and to not clock out for lunch breaks, making it seem like the facility was providing more hours of direct resident care than it was. The indictment alleges the former nursing home administrator told staff to show falsified documents to Pennsylvania Department of Health investigators during federal inspections, among other related schemes used to inflate the hours of care provided to residents.
The charges are punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
Court records cited by NBC News showed arraignment is set for March.