Princeton nursing home owed more than 272K to medical supply company

The Princeton Care Center, which abruptly shut down on Friday, Sepy. 1, owed a medical supply company more than $272,000, according to a lawsuit filed in April. The debt is another example of the dire financial troubles the long-term care facility was having in the months leading up to its closure. The company closed Friday after it was unable to make payroll and pay its employees for the two weeks leading up to its closing.

A South Plainfield-based medical supply company called GeriMedix that has delivered medical supplies to the Princeton Care Center for decades filed the lawsuit for money it was owed for medical supplies and equipment that were ordered and delivered to the facility between October of 2021 and April of 2023, court records show.

The lawsuit, filed April 21, alleges that between October 20, 2021 and April 1, 2023, Princeton Care received substantial orders of goods from Gerimedix. According to the lawsuit, some payments were made late, while others were never paid at all. The lawsuit details repeated attempts to negotiate payment plans with Princeton Care Center.

Promises were made that a payment for two months worth of supplies would be made in January, but the payment was never made, according to the lawsuit. The company still continued to deliver medical supplies to the Princeton Care Center based on promises that the company would be paid. Princeton Care Center was told in early March that more than $195,000 was owed to the company. The administrator for the facility paid the company $10,382 on March 22, and also provided the company with two more postdated checks for $10,054 and $6,088. The check for $10,054 bounced, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the administrator for Princeton Care Center knew the checking account had insufficient funds to cover the check, and that the actions of the Princeton Care Center constituted fraud. The company sought $272,136.84 plus any other amounts owed for supplies delivered to the facility, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees.

Princeton Care Center representatives didn’t bother to contest the case, plead innocent or guilty, or defend the long-term care facility in the case. Lawyers for the medical supplies company requested a default judgment against Princeton Care Center, and the judgment was approved by the Mercer County Superior Court on July 14.

Princeton Care Center was the only long-term care facility in the municipality of Princeton. About 72 residents were at the facility Friday when it was closed abruptly. Families scrambled to find new nursing homes for their loved ones. Some families were able to place their loved ones in nearby facilities, while others were placed in facilities 45 minutes to more than an hour away. Residents who did not select a new facility were sent to a long-term care facility in Morristown.