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LANSING – Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a civil cause of action (PDF) filed against Fahim Uddin, Pioneer Health Care Management doing business as Legacy Healthcare Management, and nine nursing home facilities located throughout southeast Michigan for violations of the Michigan Medicaid False Claim Act. The complaint alleges Uddin and his companies accepted more than $111 million in Medicaid reimbursement while failing to maintain staffing levels necessary to provide the services for which they billed. The Attorney General contends that this intentional failure of care placed hundreds of nursing home patients at risk of harm while Uddin operated related companies to enrich himself.
“While our case is focused on staffing data, there is a real human cost to the defendants' choices and their failure of care,” said Attorney General Nessel. “The consequences of chronic understaffing placed vulnerable residents at unnecessary risk of harm, violated their rights, and resulted in numerous injuries. I would like to thank the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General for their valuable assistance in this matter. My office remains committed to doing all we can to hold long-term care facilities accountable to ensure residents receive the high-quality care they deserve.”
"The complaint highlights two critical barriers to ensuring quality of care and life for nursing home residents: understaffing and related party transactions,” said Alison Hirschel, director of the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative. “We’re grateful to the Attorney General for seeking to hold nursing homes accountable.”
The civil complaint follows a 2-year investigation that began in October 2024 into chronic, severe understaffing at nine Michigan facilities owned and operated by Uddin:
- Ashley Healthcare Center and Riverside Healthcare Center in Gratiot County;
- Heritage Manor Nursing & Rehab Center, Northville Manor, and Pine Creek Manor Skilled Nursing & Rehab Center in Wayne County;
- Lakeside Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and Regency Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Macomb County; and
- Oakland Manor and Oakridge Manor Nursing & Rehab Center in Oakland County.
Under the Michigan Medicaid False Claim Act, failure of care occurs when a nursing home, or nursing home owner and operator, knowingly provides care which is so substandard that it fails to meet the minimally required standards for Medicaid reimbursement, despite submitting claims that indicate otherwise. Attorney General Nessel alleges in the complaint that across the nine facilities, licensed for 508 beds and housing an average of 394 residents, the defendants failed to meet their minimal staffing requirements based on the acuity needs of their residents approximately 96% of the time.
Michigan law requires per-shift minimum ratios to ensure care and services are not concentrated in a single period. It is alleged that the defendants failed to meet these shift ratios on at least 496 instances. Michigan law also requires a nursing home to provide staff sufficient to provide not less than 2.25 hours of nursing care per resident, per day. It is further alleged that the defendants operated below the per resident, per day threshold on 1,454 occasions – higher than any other nursing home chain with four or more facilities in Michigan during this period. On at least 4,658 occasions, the defendants also allegedly failed to staff a registered nurse for at least eight consecutive hours a day, seven days a week, as required by federal law.
Between 2020 and 2025, the defendants billed Medicaid a total of $111,216,862. The Attorney General contends the defendants submitted claims for services that were not provided in accordance with Medicaid requirements and is seeking the full amount received by the defendants as a result of their alleged wrongful conduct – plus triple that amount, as well as a penalty of $5,000-$10,000 for each violation.
This matter is being handled by the Department of Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division (HCFD), with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The HCFD is the federally certified Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan, and it receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,517,524.00 for the fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25% percent, totaling $1,839,170.00, is funded by the State of Michigan.
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