According to a judge who oversees cases involving the facility, Boston nursing homes are located on receiving vessels and closely monitored by state officials, could face a $5 million deficit by the end of the year.
Review of court financial documents, Superior Court Judge Christopher Berezos said the future viability of the Benjamin Health Care Center, a non-profit long-term care facility located near Mission Hill, Boston, needs to be determined immediately. A year ago, another judge placed it on a “temporary” receiving vessel as a way to avoid the closure of the historic facility. Founded in 1927, Benjamin mainly serves the black community and has around 80 residents.
Massachusetts health officials leaked hundreds of thousands of dollars to the facility, revealing that Benjamin would eventually have to pay off the money. Additionally, Benjamin has earned more than $300,000 in accounting fees and more than $300,000 in judicial costs, along with unpaid bills left from the previous administration, according to the judges and lawyers for the parties involved in the case.
The Public Health Department said that the official in the affidavit filed with the court, Benjamin is authorized to have up to 164 beds, but only 80 residents. Filling a significant portion of these beds would bring in more revenue, the judge said. Berezo said “do the Math” and “Do the Math” for $8,000 to $10,000 a month, whether it closes or fills up 30 beds, the receiver hearing said.
Nursing home lawyers have filed a civil suit against the previous administrator, claiming that more than $3 million has been “sucked” from the facility. The lawsuit filed in March is in its early stages. Former administrator Tony Francis did not reply to requests for comment.
The recipients are expected to close in June, and the office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who represents the state health agency, is seeking more detailed financial information from the receiver.
Attorney Joseph Feaster is serving as a court-appointed recipient, and in his latest report he laid out several options for the future of the facility.
In a court appearance Wednesday, Feaster said debate was underway among for-profit businesses and nonprofits as part of an effort to introduce new owners. He said there is extensive support for Benjamin to keep the door open.
“I myself included,” Judge Berezos added.
However, he said that despite his one-year beneficiary, it remains unclear whether there are two “absolutely important” questions, whether the property has a mortgage, whether existing companies previously own the property. “Benjamin's future viability could determine Benjamin's future viability, as he sits on a major property in the city of Boston,” he said. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”
Berezos also set up an April 16 meeting in court to investigate allegations of mismanagement under anonymous staff and recipients made in letters sent to the court by current administrators under Feaster in Delicia Mark.
Mark insisted on a hostile work environment and a halt of retaliation from Feaster, but anonymous staff argued for former Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who works as a Feaster assistant at Benjamin.
In an affidavit filed in court, Feaster said Mark misunderstood the facts in his claims of hostile work environment and claims for a contract to cultivate snow. Feaster said he stopped Mark not from retaliation for opposing his and Wilkerson's decision, but rather because he saw it as the culmination of eight months of “lack of productivity and overall inefficiency.” He said he wanted to exchange her last fall, but disagreed with it as he was worried about the “destabilizing effect” it had on Benjamin.
Feaster said her letter, which claims the mismanagement by Feaster and Wilkerson was “retaliation from retaliation from a dissatisfied, underperforming employee,” was “decided shortly after I hired her to not be able to do the job.”
He included a list of his claims, allowed overtime spending to be “too high” and had to resort to Wilkerson to collect documents and files from the past few years when the facility was run by another administration.
“Wilkerson's painstaking hard work has given Benjamin the ability to take over documents to the FBI, the Attorney General's office, allowing Benjamin to file a $3 million lawsuit against Tony Francis and other joint associations last month.”
He also claimed that Benjamin residents left the facility without supervision in February 2025, and he was not notified of the incident officially known as an “elopement.” Mark said in a previous interview with Commonwealth Beacon that Feaster had blown the incident disproportionately away, and that residents arrived at the residents before they left the facility altogether. Mark, who was in court on Wednesday, declined to comment and did not respond to another email seeking comment.
Regarding snow cultivation contracts, Feaster said it was “legally protected” and was given to the minimum bidder. In her own affidavit, Wilkerson said she accused Mark of Benjamin of asking for a bid and not seeking bids for other contracts. “I did everything I could to cover for her, avoid any damage, clean up any mess, and avoid further disasters,” Wilkerson wrote, in conjunction with the Feaster affidavit.
Feaster's affidavit was discussed in court, but Berezos said he could handle the matter at the April 16 hearing. Feaster said he hopes the allegations are being addressed soon, as they “deterred my ability to do the work the court has directed to me.”
Oren Selstrom, an attorney representing the families of Benjamin residents who petitioned the recipient to the court, told Commonwealth Beacon that he is still confident in his fairer as a recipient.
As they discussed the letter allegations, Berezos noted that the overall focus should be on Benjamin's future viability as a long-term care facility. “Let's not lose sight of the big picture,” Berezos said. “The big picture is, is this possible in the future?”
