Troubled Boston nursing home could face $5 million deficit by end of year

April 4, 2025

By GINTAUTAS DUMCIUS

The Boston nursing home placed into receivership and closely watched by state officials could be facing a $5 million deficit by the end of the year, according to a judge overseeing a case involving the facility.

Reviewing financial documents in court, Superior Court Judge Christopher Belezos said the future viability of the Benjamin Healthcare Center, a nonprofit long-term care facility located in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood, must be determined soon. A year ago, another judge placed it into “temporary” receivership as a way to avoid closure of the historic facility. The Benjamin, established in 1927, primarily serves the Black community and has about 80 residents.

Massachusetts health officials have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars towards the facility with the aim of keeping it afloat, while making clear the Benjamin will eventually have to pay some of the money back. Additionally, the Benjamin has racked up $339,000 in accounting costs and more than $300,000 in legal fees since it went into receivership, and it has unpaid bills left over from the previous administration, according to the judge and attorneys for the parties involved in the case.

A Department of Public Health official, in an affidavit filed in court, said the Benjamin is licensed to have up to 164 beds, but has only 80 residents. Filling a significant portion of those beds would bring in more revenue, the judge said. Even filling 30 beds at $8,000 to $10,000 a month, “do the math” and that closes the deficit, Belezos said a hearing on the receivership.

Attorneys for the nursing home have filed a civil lawsuit against its previous administrator, alleging that more than $3 million was “siphoned” from the facility. The lawsuit, filed in March, is in its early stages. Tony Francis, the former administrator, did not return a request for comment.

The receivership is time-limited, set to end in June, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, representing state health agencies, has pressed for more detailed financial information from the receiver.

Joseph Feaster, an attorney, has served as the court-appointed receiver, and in his most recent report, he laid out several options for the future of the facility, whether it’s an “angel donor” swooping in to save it or finding a new owner.

During a court appearance Wednesday, Feaster said there are discussions underway among for-profit companies and nonprofit entities as part of an effort to bring in a new owner. He said there is broad support for the Benjamin keeping its doors open.

“Myself included,” Judge Belezos added.

But Belezos noted despite a year of receivership, it’s still unclear whether the property has a mortgage and whether a previously existing corporation has a hold on the property, two “absolutely vital” questions, he said. “The presence or absence of that could determine” the Benjamin’s future viability, since it sits on a prime piece of land in the city of Boston, he said. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

Belezos also set an April 16 meeting in court to go over allegations of mismanagement under the receiver, made in letters sent to the court from anonymous staffers and the current administrator under Feaster, Delicia Mark.

Mark alleged a hostile work environment and a retaliatory suspension from Feaster, while the anonymous staffers alleged former state senator Dianne Wilkerson, who is working as Feaster’s assistant at the Benjamin, hired her relatives to work there, while another relative received a contract for snow plowing.

In an affidavit filed in court, Feaster said Mark is misstating and omitting facts in her allegation of a hostile work environment, as well as the snow plowing contract. Feaster said he suspended Mark not out of retaliation for pushing back against his and Wilkerson’s decisions, but because he viewed it as the culmination of eight months of “lack of productivity, and overall ineffectiveness.” He said he wanted to have her replaced last fall, but decided against it because he was concerned about the “destabilizing effect” it could have on the Benjamin.

Feaster said her letter alleging mismanagement by Feaster and Wilkerson amounted to “retaliation from a disgruntled, underperforming employee,” who he had “determined shortly after hiring her that she was incapable of doing the job.”

He included a list of his own set of allegations, saying she allowed overtime spending to become “too high,” and he had to turn to Wilkerson to gather documents and files from the last several years, when the facility was run by a different administration.

“Wilkerson’s painstaking diligence resulted in The Benjamin’s ability to turn over documentation to the Attorney General’s office, the FBI, and just last month allowed the Benjamin to file a $3 million lawsuit against Tony Francis and other co-conspirators,” Feaster wrote, referring to the pre-receivership administrator.

He also alleged in February 2025, a Benjamin resident left the premises without supervision, and he was not notified of the incident, which is formally called an “elopement.” Mark, in a previous interview with CommonWealth Beacon, said Feaster blew the incident out of proportion, and said a staff member got to the resident before the resident fully left the premises. Mark, who was in court Wednesday, declined to comment and did not respond to a separate email seeking comment.

Regarding the snow plowing contract, Feaster said it was “legitimately secured” and given to the lowest bidder. Wilkerson, in her own affidavit, said the snow plowing contract was the only one the Benjamin sought bids for, and accused Mark of not soliciting bids for other contracts. “I covered for her, and did everything I could to avoid damage, clean up messes and avoid further disaster,” Wilkerson wrote, aligning with Feaster’s affidavit.

While Feaster’s affidavit was discussed in court, Belezos said the matter can be handled during the April 16 hearing. Feaster said he wants the allegations quickly dealt with because they are “destabilizing my ability to do the job the court has directed me to do.”

Oren Sellstrom, an attorney representing families of Benjamin residents who petitioned the court for the receivership, told CommonWealth Beacon he still has confidence in Feaster as the receiver.

As they discussed the allegations in the letters, Belezos noted that the focus overall should be on the future viability of the Benjamin as a long-term care facility. “Let’s not lose sight of the big picture,“ Belezos said. “The big picture is, is this viable going forward?”