Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced a $400,000 settlement with Orchard Hill Operator, LLC, doing business as Orchard Hill Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, to resolve allegations that the facility violated the Maryland False Health Claims Act by providing substandard care to residents.
Under the settlement, Orchard Hill will pay $325,000 to fund a quality improvement plan and $75,000 in restitution to the state. The quality improvement plan requires the facility to be overseen by the Office of the Attorney General for three years through regular performance evaluations conducted by a third-party monitoring company.
The settlement concludes an investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit (MFVVU). The investigation included a review of survey reports from the Office of Health Care Quality, analysis of staffing levels, personnel and resident census records, and examination of resident medical records.
According to the MFVVU, the investigation found serious deficiencies at the facility, including inadequate wound care that resulted in hospitalizations, failures to provide sufficient nutrition and hydration, regulatory violations affecting patient care, numerous preventable falls, and inadequate staffing.
The MFVVU determined that the level of care provided to Medicaid recipients at Orchard Hill was so deficient that it constituted fraud against taxpayers who fund care through the Medicaid program. As part of the settlement, the quality improvement agreement allows the state to monitor daily operations at the facility, including access to corporate documents, medical records, and staff. If ongoing issues are identified, Orchard Hill must correct them or face potential further legal action.
Attorney General Brown credited members of the Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit for their work on the case, including Director Zak Shirley, Assistant Attorney General Louise Lock, Investigators Carl Stambaugh and Antonnio Hopson, and Auditor Yelena Slutskaya.
The Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through a federal grant totaling $7,119,096 for fiscal year 2026, with the remaining $2,373,032 funded by the State of Maryland.
