Emporia’s Flint Hills Care Center is among several senior care facilities across the state now in receivership after action over the past month by the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services.
Secretary Tim Keck has been granted temporary receivership status of the 41-bed Emporia facility as of Sept. 5, according to a department spokesperson. Two other facilities, Providence Living Center of Topeka and Kenwood Plaza of St. John, were placed into temporary receivership in late August.
Virgil Goracke of Omaha, Neb., is listed as the owner of all three facilities. KVOE News has called a phone number listed to Goracke seeking comment, but the business listed says there is nobody with that name employed at that number. An after-hours call Friday to Flint Hills Care Center advises KVOE News to call management during regular business hours.
A filing by the state as provided to KVOE News alleges Flint Hills Care Center owes over $400,000 to the state of Kansas for quality care assessment payments, over $40,000 to a therapy vendor and over $17,000 to its food service vendor. The court filing also says the facility has not submitted its annual licensing renewal application or paid the necessary fee.
At the time of the Lyon County filing Sept. 5, a concern was Flint Hills Care Center would not be able to pay its employees due to the apparent insolvency of Goracke’s management company, Pinnacle Management Company, along with a separate concern resident trust funds may have been misused after evidence of misappropriated funds at another facility. With this story developing after Friday’s business hours, those questions have not been answered.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office is also involved, allegedly seizing business records and payroll documentation as part of the investigation.
The Lyon County case has now been consolidated into a case originating out of Shawnee County District Court with Judge Franklin Theis presiding.
Stay with KVOE and KVOE.com as developments continue with this story.
