Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit Secures a $250,000 Settlement and Corporate Oversight of Dennett Rehab Center

Published: 3/19/2026

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced a $250,000 settlement with the owners of the Dennett Rehab Center nursing home in Oakland, Maryland, resolving allegations that the owners violated the Maryland False Health Claims Act by providing substandard care to hundreds of residents at the facility.

The settlement involves both the current owners, Dennett Rehab, and the previous owners, DRM Healthcare. It includes a monitoring agreement component in which the Office of Attorney General will oversee the facility for three years. The settlement marks the fifth nursing home case resolved in the past two years by the Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit (MFVVU). This settlement is part of an ongoing MFVVU effort to improve conditions at the state’s roughly 230 nursing homes.

“Maryland’s seniors deserve safe, attentive, and dignified care—and taxpayers deserve to know it’s being delivered,” said Attorney General Brown. “That’s why this settlement holds Dennett Rehab Center accountable and ensures Medicaid dollars are used to protect Maryland’s most vulnerable.”

The facility came to the office’s attention in 2024 after two residents died at the facility. The investigative team obtained a wide array of evidence about the facility’s day-to-day operations. The team also conducted a “strike force” visit in which a large group of investigators – including members from MFVVU, DHS Adult Protective Services, and the Department of Aging State Long-term Care Ombudsman – showed up unannounced to conduct a comprehensive review of daily operations at the facility.

Overall, the investigation found:

• Failure to satisfy state regulations regarding Registered Nurse staffing on 17 percent of shifts;
• Failure to meet bedside care staff-to-resident ratio regulations on 25 percent of shifts;
• Eleven patients suffering serious injury due to falls and other preventable events;
• Several serious regulatory violations compromising patient care, including improper nutrition and feeding; and
• Frequent resident complaints about long call-bell response times. The investigation revealed that these shortcomings meant that the Medicaid recipients residing at the Dennett Rehab Center were receiving such substandard care that taxpayers, who paid for the care through the Medicaid program, were being defrauded. To ensure that the care at the facility improves, MFVVU insisted on the monitoring agreement in addition to the monetary settlement. The agreement, paid for by Dennett Rehab, allows the state to monitor every relevant facet of the facility’s operations on a regular basis, through outside audits and unfettered access to corporate documents, medical files, and staff at the facility. If continuing problems are uncovered, the facility must make improvements or risk renewed legal exposure.

This case was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit of the Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Brown thanked MFVVU Director Zak Shirley, Assistant Attorney General Raja Mishra, and Investigators Dennis Gunther and Prashani Mankhusu for their work on the case.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $7,119,096 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,373,032 for FY 2026, is funded by the State of Maryland.

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