GOP senators seek probe of ‘egregious’ conditions at NJ nursing home

Republican senators on Wednesday called for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate “egregious” conditions at a nursing home in New Jersey. 

GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Tim Scott (S.C.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday requesting a probe into the conditions at Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center in Green Township, N.J. 

“Evidence suggests that Woodland has subjected its residents to egregious and flagrant conditions that have caused them to suffer serious physical and emotional harm,” the senators wrote. 

The nursing home facility previously made headlines after 17 bodies were found stacked in the building’s morgue in 2020, NBC News reported.

New Jersey took steps to suspend new admissions to Woodland last month, with state inspectors citing multiple alleged failures at the facility including failure to call 911 for unresponsive residents, leaving a resident “soiled in feces for ten hours” and failing to get a resident COVID-19 treatment they needed.

Republicans previously urged investigations into New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan after allegations that states’ mismanagement of COVID-19 caused many nursing home deaths. 

“DOJ declined to open a CRIPA investigation into nursing homes in New York, Pennsylvania, or Michigan, but indicated it opened a CRIPA investigation into two nursing facilities operated by the State of New Jersey, including Memorial Home at Menlo Park and the Veterans Memorial Home at Paramus,” the senators said.

“We strongly urge the DOJ to consider expanding its investigation to include Woodland as well, especially in light of other related ongoing investigations,” they added.