North Shore responds to vendor lawsuit, seeks to consolidate cases

LOVELAND — North Shore Manor Inc. on Thursday filed a response to a lawsuit originated by multiple vendors affiliated with Columbine Management Services, the entity that managed Loveland nursing home North Shore until early last year.

The Columbine vendors sought the court’s help in collecting on unpaid bills for supplies and services. North Shore has contended that those supplies and services were provided at above-market rates as a means to unreasonably move money from North Shore to Columbine and its owner, J. Robert Wilson.

In North Shore’s response, it denied most of the allegations, citing multiple times that North Shore “never agreed to be billed at usurious and unconscionable markups.”

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In a related motion on Thursday, North Shore asked the court to consolidate the vendor lawsuit with the original lawsuit that was filed in October last year. The motion noted that Columbine opposes the consolidation.

North Shore argued that the parties are all the same.

“North Shore’s claims are premised on a scheme in which Wilson, while acting as president and chief executive officer of North Shore, siphoned profits from North Shore by, among other conduct, overbilling North Shore for goods and services provided by the vendor entities,” the motion read.

A key issue in both cases, the motion argued, will be determining whether amounts charged were legitimate. “Because the actions will involve the same parties and essentially the same issues, they should be consolidated into one case…”

A request for comment from Columbine’s public relations firm was submitted, but no response was forthcoming prior to publication time.

The cases are:

Centre Elderly Transportation Inc., et al, versus North Shore Manor Inc., case number 2024cv30100 filed in Larimer County District Court on Feb. 5, 2024.

The case is North Shore Manor Inc. v. J. Robert Wilson, Columbine Management Services Inc. Wapello Holdings LLC and John Does I-X, case number 2023cv30883, filed Oct. 27, 2023, in Larimer County District Court.