Kane In Your Corner looks at AristaCare at Cedar Oaks after fatal assault on 91-year-old

News 12's senior investigative reporter Walt Kane did some digging into AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield - the nursing home where a 91-year-old woman died following an assault.
Kane In Your Corner dug into inspection reports for AristaCare at Cedar Oaks and examined data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The results are mixed.
In the past five years, data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services shows AristaCare's South Plainfield facility has paid the federal government nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fines. That is the sixth-most of any nursing home in New Jersey.
Kane In Your Corner looked at the inspection reports over those five years and found only 11 deficiencies - none of which were deemed serious. The facility also has a four-star rating, indicating the federal government believes the facility is above average overall.
What was it that led to those nearly quarter of a million dollars in fines? Well, the fines followed a series of inspections in 2021, in which at least one deficiency was found every time.
Inspectors identified a number of problems, from poor infection control procedures to failing to prescribe medication in accordance with doctor's orders.
Kane In Your Corner wanted to talk to AristaCare about its report card and called the company multiple times over the past two days. No one answered questions or transferred to someone else who could. Most of the people Kane In Your Corner spoke to simply said two words: no comment.