#FBI, state authorities raid Pennsylvania nursing homes amid COVID-19 probe

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An FBI agent heads into Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center as the agency, along with Health and Human Services, conduct a search warrant at the care facility Thursday.
AP

FBI agents and state authorities raided a pair of Pennsylvania nursing homes — including one where at least 82 residents died of COVID-19 — amid allegations of criminal neglect, according to reports.

Officials seized evidence from the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center and the Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, both of which are located outside Pittsburgh, reports said.

Photos posted online by CBS Pittsburgh show investigators wearing safety masks and disposable blue gloves as they loaded cardboard file boxes into the back of a van on Thursday.

The raids were conducted pursuant to court-ordered federal search warrants, Pittsburgh US Attorney Scott Brady said in a prepared statement.

Brighton Rehab is the scene of Pennsylvania’s worst coronavirus outbreak in a nursing home, with 332 residents testing positive for the disease and at least 82 killed by it, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Last month, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the conditions there “deeply troubling” and said it was among several facilities under investigation for possible criminal neglect amid the pandemic.

The police chief in Brighton Township has also said he no longer lets cops respond there in person and the National Guard was called in for to conduct housekeeping, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Brighton Rehab and Mt. Lebanon are both owned by Comprehensive Healthcare Management, which issued a statement saying, “We are unable to comment on any ongoing government actions,” the Post-Gazette said.