Millionaire nursing home owner accused of understaffing will host fundraiser for Cameron

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican gubernatorial nominee challenging Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, plans to hold a fundraising event on Oct. 20 featuring Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). Terry Forcht, who is hosting the event along with his wife Marion, is a millionaire GOP donor and the owner of a bank chain and a nursing home. He is currently facing a class action lawsuit over harmful understaffing of his nursing home.

According to the event invitation, the Forchts will host the event at the Hamburg Banking Center in Lexington, which is part of their Forcht Bank chain.

Terry Forcht is one of Kentucky’s most prominent Republican political donors and has given thousands of dollars to Cameron’s campaigns and political action committee. He has hosted fundraisers for Cameron in the past, and Cameron met with Forcht and members of his bank’s executive team in June to discuss policy issues.

Spokespersons for Forcht, Cameron, and Paul did not immediately respond to American Independent Foundation requests for comment for this story.

In addition to his banking business, Forcht owns Hazard Health and Rehabilitation Center, a 200-bed nursing home facility in Hazard, Kentucky.

In July 2023, the estate of a former resident of the home filed a class action suit against the company and Forcht. The plaintiffs’ attorney accused the defendants in a blog post of “profiting from systematically and knowingly understaffing the facility – a direct violation of Kentucky and federal law.”

An attorney for the defendants told the Louisville Courier-Journal in August, “We have filed motions to dismiss these two lawsuits, and we believe they should be dismissed because they have no merit whatsoever.”

According to a 2010 ABC News report, Forcht worked with a GOP super PAC to help defeat Kentucky Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway that year in his U.S. Senate race against Paul.

Conway’s office was prosecuting the Hazard nursing home at the time for allegedly failing to report sexual abuse of an 88-year-old resident. A year later, the business agreed to enhance its employee training program and pay a $20,000 fine.

Forcht and Hazard reportedly bankrolled Kentucky legislators who helped enact a 2014 bill requiring medical malpractice claims go to an outside review panel before going to the courts. His business had already been sued at least three times over alleged neglect of patients.

The state Supreme Court said in 2018 that the law was an unconstitutional impediment to Kentuckians’ access to open courts.

The Cook Political Report rates the race for governor between Cameron and Beshear competitive and leaning Democratic.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.