Massachusetts AG announces $2.75 million settlement to resolve allegations nursing homes across the state, including Fall River, Boston areas, knowingly understaffed resulting in resident neglect

BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced a $2.75 million settlement with Bear Mountain Healthcare LLC (“Bear Mountain”), along with its affiliates and current and former skilled nursing facilities, resolving allegations that Bear Mountain knowingly understaffed its facilities, resulting in resident neglect. 

Under the agreement, Bear Mountain will pay $2.75 million, including $1 million for the sole benefit of residents at its remaining facility, and will enter a three-year compliance monitoring program overseen by an independent monitor approved by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for all facilities they currently operate and/or will operate in the future. 

“Elders deserve to live with dignity and respect. To ensure nursing home residents receive adequate care, state law requires facilities to meet minimum staffing standards. When facilities fail to meet those requirements, my office will take action to hold them accountable and protect residents,” said AG Campbell. “This settlement holds Bear Mountain accountable for systematic understaffing that resulted in neglect and provides meaningful relief to properly meet residents’ needs moving forward.” 

Bear Mountain, from 2017 through the present, has owned or managed a number of skilled nursing facilities throughout Massachusetts. As of today, Bear Mountain has sold all facilities except one, Timberlyn Heights in Great Barrington. The AGO began an investigation based on referrals received from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and found widespread staffing deficiencies in violation of state regulations.  

The AGO’s investigation found that between April 2021 and December 2025, facilities operated by Bear Mountain systematically failed to meet minimum staffing levels required by DPH.  

The AGO alleges that this chronic understaffing led to serious resident harm, including pressure ulcers, obstructive uropathy, obstructed foley catheters, renal failure, medication errors, malnutrition and dehydration, and falls resulting in broken bones. The AGO further alleged that, during the same time period the facilities were struggling to meet minimum staffing standards, Bear Mountain’s owners took significant salaries and distributions from the facilities.  

This Settlement Agreement and Release is between and among the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, limited to its role as the single state agency for Medicaid (“MassHealth”); the Medicaid Fraud Division (“MFD”) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General Bear Mountain Healthcare LLC, Bear Mountain Management Company, LLC, JTRP, LLC, Bear Mountain 320 Operating LLC d/b/a Timberlyn Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation, Bear MT Mattapan, LLC d/b/a Mattapan Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT Parkway, LLC d/b/a Parkway Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT West Roxbury, LLC d/b/a West Roxbury Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT Fall River LLC d/b/a Carvalho Grove Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT Franklin LLC d/b/a Cedarwood Gardens Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT Newburyport LLC d/b/a Brigham Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear MT North Andover, LLC d/b/a Prescott House, Bear MT Stoughton LLC d/b/a Blue Hills Health & Rehabilitation Center, Bear Mt Swansea LLC d/b/a Country Gardens Health & Rehabilitation Center, and Bear Mountain Westford, LLC d/b/a Westford House.

AG Campbell has also resolved other cases, including a $4 million settlement with Next Step Healthcare in 2024 – the largest nursing home settlement in AGO history – resolving similar allegations of systemic understaffing and neglect. In June 2026, the AGO announced new consumer protection regulations for Assisted Living Residences — the first of its kind under the state’s consumer protection laws — to protect residents from unfair and deceptive acts and practices, including misrepresentation of available services, improper fees, and unlawful evictions.  

The Bear Mountain case was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Mary-Ellen Kennedy and Matthew Jones, Investigations Supervisor Heather Dwyer, and Nurse Investigator Barbara Edwards, all of the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division. MassHealth, DPH, the Massachusetts Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, and the Disability Law Center provided substantial assistance with the investigation. 

The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.    

The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $6,458,176 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,152,724 for FY 2026, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.