Thread: Immigrant stranded at Suffolk nursing home

Immigrant stranded at Suffolk nursing home

By Michael H. Samuels

Friday, August 29, 2008 09:30 AM EDT



An illegal immigrant who has spent the past 16 years at the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility, and has cost taxpayers $1.1 million during that time, is hindering Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s plan to close the facility.


At issue is a state mandate that all patients at a nursing home be placed in a new home before it can be closed.


The rest of the 230-plus patients at Foley are covered by Medicaid or Medicare and can be transferred. The undocumented immigrant, however, isn’t Medicare eligible.


“New York state has strict laws about what you can do with a patient,â€

They'll allow this, but we had a Hospic here where they were going to kick a dying man out because he didn't die as fast as his insurance thought he should. I mean they were on it, and fortunatly or unfortunatly, he died a week later......but you better believe they are on his family for those added funds.