State officials are looking into whether Termini illegally used millions of dollars in Medicaid money for business and real estate transactions unrelated to health care, including the record company's launch.
Cooper said Tritt has had his own difficulties with the record label, but would not elaborate. He said Tritt is particularly concerned about reports of poor conditions at Haven Healthcare's nursing homes.
"Travis being a family man . . . certainly doesn't condone any of that, if it turns out to be true," Cooper said. "It's a sad situation."
Termini this week said he was angered and shocked by the allegations, and he denied using Medicaid money improperly. He said the money spent on the record label and a lakefront house in Middlefield came from refinancing some of Haven Healthcare's properties, transactions he said did not affect patient care.
Termini, who declined to comment on Cooper's statements yesterday, said Haven Healthcare acted quickly to address problems found at the nursing homes by state inspectors. He added that the company has spent $10 million to increase staffing, and insisted that his nursing homes provide excellent care.
But on Monday, Governor M. Jodi Rell said the state may need to take over some of Haven's Connecticut nursing homes because of possible financial problems to ensure proper patient care. She ordered state reviews to be completed by Dec. 1 so officials can decide whether to place any of the nursing homes under state receivership.
Haven Healthcare's violations, first reported by The Hartford Courant on Sunday, include one nursing home resident in West Haven dying after workers failed to monitor her fluid intake, and another woman with swallowing problems in the same home choking to death on a sandwich left within her reach.
The company has also been fined for allowing some patients to become dehydrated or develop bedsores and infections that led to amputations.
