(DOWNLOAD) "Matter Eden Park Health Services v. Robert P. Whalen" by Supreme Court of New York # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Matter Eden Park Health Services v. Robert P. Whalen
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 17, 1980
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 70 KB
Description
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this court by order of the Supreme Court at Special Term, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of the respondents which imposed a fine in the amount of $41,374 upon petitioner. Petitioner is a corporation owning several nursing homes, including one in Albany which is the subject of this proceeding. Following an investigation of the Albany facility conducted during January of 1977, the Department of Health issued two 30-day letters (Public Health Law, § 2803, subd 7), dated January 19, 1977 and February 24, 1977, which notified petitioner of numerous violations of Health Department regulations in three basic areas: nursing care; sanitation, housekeeping and maintenance; and patient nutrition and dietetics. Each letter specified in detail the regulations allegedly violated, the objectionable conduct constituting each violation, the potential fine for continued violation and the steps which should be taken to rectify each violation. After follow-up visits by the department indicated that many of the originally noted deficiencies continued to exist, three additional letters were sent to petitioner indicating what violations were still uncorrected. Ten charges were then issued based upon numerous violations of departmental regulations (10 NYCRR Parts 414- 416), and petitioner was found guilty after a hearing on all 10 charges. The hearing officer did not make any recommendation concerning penalties and the respondents, after adopting the hearing officers findings of fact and conclusions of law, imposed a fine of $41,374. This transferred CPLR article 78 proceeding ensued. Petitioners contention that the prehearing procedures employed by the department violated its due process rights is without merit. Due process is satisfied when a party is fully informed of the nature of the charges against him, so that he can prepare an adequate defense (Matter of Murray v Murphy, 24 N.Y.2d 150). Here, although the charges themselves were vague, they must be read in conjunction with the letters [73 A.D.2d 993 Page 994]