An office supervisor for the management company of a deeply troubled Ahwatukee nursing home has pleaded guilty to theft for stealing more than $160,000 from the facility, said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.

Julie Ann Gutierrez altered Evergreen Healthcare computer records and submitted bogus payment requests to the corporation in the names of friends, family members and others, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Her plea agreement requires that she serve 2.5 years in prison. Gutierrez will be sentenced on Feb. 27 by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Linda Akers.

In the past two weeks, state and federal authorities revoked contracts with the Evergreen Foothills Health and Rehabilitation Center allowing the facility to receive payments to care for Medicare and Medicaid covered residents.

However, the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reinstated its agreement to pay for Medicare residents at the facility until March 28. This was done, said CMS manager Paula Perse, because administrators at the facility are working to correct the severe problems previously found by inspectors.

In December, surveyors with the Arizona Department of Health Services found dozens of state and federal deficiencies at the nursing home and declared its conditions placed residents’ health and safety in immediate jeopardy.

The agreement with CMS will require an on-site survey to verify the facility has moved into compliance with state and federal regulations. If the home fails the inspection it will again lose its ability to receive payments for Medicare patients.

Following the federal lead, state authorities with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS, have also reinstated their Medicaid provider agreement with Evergreen Foothills, said AHCCCS spokeswoman Rainey Daye Holloway.

That agreement also operates until March 28, said Holloway.