Rabbi Bernard Bergman claimed today that all charges that he operated nursing homes in an illegal and improper manner were “false” and that he had been the “target” of attacks” by public officials and the media of which there is no parallel, since the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy.”
Bergman testified during a day-long hearing on alleged nursing home scandals here conducted by the Senate subcommittee on long-term care of the aged, chaired by Sen, Frank E, Moss (D.Utah). The hearings were adjourned until Feb, 4 when the subcommittee is scheduled to hear further testimony from Bergman, In the Interim, the panel will examine subpoenaed documents relating to Bergman’s and other nursing home operations.
The portly Orthodox rabbi told the subcommittee, “Under oath I am proud of what I have accomplished in the nursing home industry during the 30 years I have been in the industry.” He claimed that the care patients received in his and other nursing homes was frequently better than in city hospitals and invited members of the subcommittee staff to visit his nursing homes.
Before Bergman took the Stand, three witnesses testified that they had found deplorable conditions and improper patient care in the Towers Nursing Home of which Bergman’s wife is the licenses. The witnesses were Irene Jarvis former institutional inspector for the New York City Department of Health; Anastasia Hopper, former chief of the institutional review service of New York City; and Dr. Jay Dobkin, chief resident in internal medicine at Moriseania Hospital in the Bronx.
MANUFACTURED CHARGES AGAINST BERGMAN
Bergman’s attorney, Nathan Lewin, charged that members of the bureaucracy in the New York State Department of Health had manufactured charges against Bergman because he and other nursing home owners were Orthodox Jews The allegation of anti-Semitism drew hisses from spectators in the hearing room.
Bergman claimed that a New York State Department of Health report which said that he, his relations or associates owned 56 nursing homes was false, He said he only owns tow nursing homes now and that most of his business interests are in real estate, the ownership of buildings and property on which nursing homes are located. He said the report listed relatives who were not relatives, associates who were not associates and nursing homes he had never heard of.
Bergman denied that he used undue political influence and said he was distressed that elected officials have been maligned because he had asked them to deal with the bureaucracy, just as any citizen will turn to elected officials, Under questioning by Rep, Edward Koch (D.NY), Bergman said he had met with State Assemblyman Albert Blumenthal and then Assemblyman, now Speaker of the State Assembly, Stanley Steingut to find out why the bureaucracy was holding up approval of his homes.
PROCEDURAL WRANGLE MARKS HEARING
Today’s hearing opened with a procedural wrangle when Bergman’s attorney objected to the presence of State Assemblyman Andrew Stain on the panel. Lewin charged that Stein had conducted a “malevolent “campaign against Bergman and noted that a New York State Supreme Court Judge had branded the nursing home investigation by Stein’s Temporary State Commission on Living Costs as illegal, Later, Bergman said he had no objection to Stein’s presence while he testified.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
