A new lawsuit against a Country Club nursing home alleges negligence and malpractice leading to the premature death of an 85-year-old man who lived across the street.
The suit was brought by Mary Ann Spadacini, whose husband of 54 years, Robert, entered what was supposed to be a brief rehabilitation stint at ArchCare at Providence Rest, located at 3304 Waterbury Ave.
Robert entered the nursing home on Nov. 28, 2023, after being briefly hospitalized at Montefiore Weiler for “lower extremity swelling and shortness of breath,” according to the court filing. But on Jan. 12, just weeks into his stay at ArchCare at Providence Rest, he was readmitted to the hospital with pneumonia, a bacterial infection and sepsis.
Robert also had developed a stage 4 bedsore, so deep that it exposed muscle and bone. He died Jan. 24.
The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home, owned and operated by Benefice Advantage Inc., along with physicians from Essen Medical Associates, were “careless, negligent, wanton and reckless” in caring for Robert Spadacini and showed “reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of others.”
“It’s two years, and it just eats at me every day,” Mary Ann Spadacini told the Bronx Times.
Jon Goldberg, a spokesperson for ArchCare, sent a statement saying he could not discuss details of Robert’s situation, but “We believe the suit is meritless and look forward to filing our answer to it in court.”
“Delivering excellent care with grace and compassion to all who come to our doors is the very heart of our mission at ArchCare at Providence Rest. The safety and well-being of every resident for whom we are privileged to care is always our priority. We take all concerns about care seriously and investigate them thoroughly, guided by our commitment to continuous improvement and the values that animate our ministry.”
But today, without Robert — and with the constant sight of the nursing home right outside her window — Mary Ann said she’s struggling in every sense.
She said he was a longtime bus driver for the Transit Authority and a great father to their daughter, Marie, now in her 50s, who has severe autism and has lived in a group home for many years.
The three of them did a lot of things together, such as going to Yankees games and riding the Staten Island Ferry, Mary Ann said.
Her husband’s presence was especially meaningful because, particularly in the era when Marie was born, many fathers simply opted out of parenthood when their child turned out to have a disability.
“There were a lot of fathers who left, who could not deal with this. But not Bob,” Mary Ann said. “This was his baby, and he and I were going to do everything for her.”
Though Robert was 85 when he passed, Mary Ann said he still should’ve had plenty of years left. His father had lived to be 95, and his initial health issues were not severe, she said.
Now, his absence has left a gaping hole. Marie is “not too aware of what happened to him, but she does look around for him,” Mary Ann said. “She’s a daddy’s girl.”
‘He was just lying there’
While Robert was at the nursing home, Mary Ann said she walked across the street to visit twice a day. She quickly came to believe that he wasn’t receiving treatment to address the issues he was admitted for.
“I realized he wasn’t getting physical therapy,” she said. “He was just lying there.”
Not only did he seem not to receive treatment, he also seemed not to move from bed at all, according to Mary Ann.
She said she tried complaining to the staff, but she never spoke with doctors, only nurse’s aides who said his blood pressure was too low for physical therapy. She said she only saw a doctor upon intake. As Robert declined, Mary Ann felt her concerns were ignored.
“Why the heck aren’t you doing something bedside, sit him up?” she recalled thinking. “I’m not a doctor, but I know you can’t just lie there, immobile.”
By Christmas, Mary Ann could see her husband was declining, and she started hearing a “terrible sound in his chest” that was later determined to be pneumonia. Robert was never given antibiotics, she said.
By the time he was readmitted to the hospital on Jan. 12, 2024, it was too late to save him. Though Mary Ann said Montefiore doctors treated Robert with compassion and respected her wishes, his infection had gone too long untreated, and he passed away on Jan. 24.
Unlike many nursing home residents, Robert had a caring spouse who visited frequently and attempted to raise concerns about his worsening condition. Even so, Mary Ann said she had little recourse after her husband’s death.
She said she filed a complaint with the state Department of Health but doesn’t believe it went anywhere. “They sent me a boilerplate letter saying they were gonna look into it, and I really don’t know if they ever did.”
With the new lawsuit, “I want to hold them accountable,” she said.
Sight unseen
According to multiple rating systems, the 200-bed ArchCare at Providence Rest is not a poor-performing facility.
It has an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars on Medicaid.gov, 3 out of 5 on U.S. News and World Report and 4 out of 5 from the state Department of Health.
State inspection records show that between 2022 through 2025, ArchCare at Providence Rest had five inspections resulting in 12 total citations, including two relating to “actual harm or immediate jeopardy,” which appear to have been settled with the state for $10,000 each.
Attorney Michael Hill, whose office specializes in nursing home abuse and neglect cases, is now handling the Spadacinis’ case after it was filed by local counsel.
Hill told the Bronx Times of an “unseen epidemic” of senior neglect at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Hill said his office is working approximately 25 cases nationwide that are “almost identical” to Spadacini’s, with patients who developed infections unrelated to their original health issues that were allowed to progress untreated.
Even at a religious-affiliated institution in a relatively wealthy neighborhood like Country Club, deadly infections and bedsores like those Robert developed are not uncommon, according to Hill.
He said the problem comes down to understaffing, which he said was “the reason these things go unseen.”
A pending crisis in nursing home care
Industry experts believe that cases like the Spadacinis’ could become more common as a “perfect storm” of challenges is putting nursing home care at particular risk in New York.
Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association, told the Bronx Times that nursing homes are “struggling mightily” with staffing that has never recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
There are 44 nursing homes in the Bronx and approximately 600 statewide — and about 70% of those are in the red, he said.
A demographic shift is worsening the problem, according to Hanse. As the state’s senior population has surged to become the country’s fourth-largest, the population of working-age people to care for them has declined.
Hanse also said the state “underfunds the cost of care” by almost $100 per resident per day, and as a result, 10 New York City nursing homes have closed since 2024, a loss of 1,000 beds.
State leaders are now beginning to address the approaching crisis and allocate more funding, which is a positive sign, Hanse said.
He called for swift action to preserve quality facilities in every neighborhood, where they can be accessible to visitors and provide vital services for the community.
Hanse also said investment leads to consistent and appropriate staffing — which Mary Ann alleges was sorely lacking in her husband’s facility. Patients thrive best with regular staff who understand their medical issues, personalities and quirks, he said.
“They are residents, these are their homes,” Hanse said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
