Nursing home operator pleads not guilty to fraud

ST. LOUIS -- The former operator of several St. Louis-area nursing homes has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to defraud the federal government by providing substandard care at his facilities. Robert Wachter, 58, of Jackson, Wyo., entered his plea Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis. The four corporate defendants in the case, American Healthcare Management Inc. and three limited liability companies that ran nursing homes that are now under new management, also entered pleas of not guilty. A federal grand jury indicted Wachter and the companies last week on charges of keeping staffing levels dangerously low and draining money from the nursing homes. The staffing was so low that the care was abusive and substandard, federal prosecutors have said. Wachter's trial is scheduled for March 6.