A patient care expert has been appointed to oversee operations directly involving the patients at the financially troubled Haven Healthcare nursing homes.
Brent Martin, a managing partner of a Cleveland health care consulting firm, was appointed over the weekend.
“My intent, number one, is to get in and meet with the U.S. trustee and with debtor (Haven’s) counsel, because I need to be able to coordinate there with contact information,” Martin told the Hartford Courant Sunday night.
Martin said he will be meeting with Haven Healthcare’s lawyers and will be in Connecticut this week to swiftly evaluate and set priority care at the 15 Connecticut nursing homes and those in other New England states.
Martin, managing partner at Healthcare MCR consulting and managing director of XRoads Solutions Group, has served as health care ombudsman in California.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he is pleased by the appointment of Martin, apparently made late Saturday by the U.S. bankruptcy trustee.
“I’m encouraged that we’re making progress, with the appointment of a real health care professional who has a record of protecting patients and in providing medical care in challenging situations,” Blumenthal said Sunday night “It’s another step forward on a long road.”
Last week, federal task force agents searched the Haven Healthcare’s Middletown offices. The company is facing allegations that it misused millions of dollars in Medicaid funding.
A U.S. Bankruptcy hearing is scheduled Wednesday on the appointment of an independent restructuring officer to serve as a watchdog over financial transactions at Haven Healthcare.
