Rep sued over failed sale of county nursing home

A series of lawsuits have been filed since the sale of Hill View Manor collapsed.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- When the deal to sell Lawrence County's nursing home to a private group soured and ended up in litigation, state Rep. Frank LaGrotta put out a news release stating the wrong parties were being sued.
"If Sylvan Heights and Americare want to sue the parties responsible for stopping the sale of Hill View Manor, they ought to sue me and the Pennsylvania Department of Health," LaGrotta stated in his April 2004 news release.
Apparently, Sylvan Heights Realty Partners took heed and filed a lawsuit Monday against LaGrotta contending he interfered with the deal the company had to buy Hill View Manor.
After the deal fell through, the nursing home subsequently closed and the building and property were recently sold at an auction.
But a quagmire of lawsuits over the failed sale still exist, with LaGrotta joining a list of other defendants on both sides.
Sylvan Heights Realty Partners and Americare, a private management company owned by one of Sylvan's partners that was managing Hill View Manor before the failed sale, filed a lawsuit in April 2003 in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court against the county, Commissioner Ed Fosnaught, Controller Maryann Reiter and Solicitor John Hodge. Two other county commissioners in negotiations of the nursing home sale, Brian Burick and Roger DeCarbo, were not named in the lawsuit.
What's alleged
The suit contends that Fosnaught, Reiter and Hodge intentionally interfered with contract negotiations, and all three are also accused of civil conspiracy.
The buyers say they have lost more than $5 million in the deal.
The county filed a lawsuit in December 2002 against Sylvan and two of its principal partners, John Hadgkiss and George Howley, to recover $140,000 the county contends was taken from private-pay patient accounts while Americare was managing the facility and Sylvan was buying it. The two companies share some of the same officers.
Attorneys were in court Monday arguing over the county lawsuit. Hodge said Sylvan Heights has asked for a change of venue when the matter gets to court. He said the county was also explaining to Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge Dominick Motto that it was unable to give Sylvan information from a nursing home computer because Pennsylvania State Police were unable to retrieve it. He also noted that the information may be protected under federal laws protecting an individual's health care information.
LaGrotta said he intends to fight the suit against him.
"It's clearly a frivolous lawsuit and has no merit," LaGrotta said. "Everything I did was within the boundaries of my duties as a state legislator. I'm absolutely convinced that any court will look at this as such."
LaGrotta said the state Legislature has agreed to provide him with attorneys for the lawsuit.
cioffi@vindy.com