ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- On Thursday afternoon, patients at Southern Tier Orthodontics in Elmira were notified via text message and email that owner Dr. Jason Horn declared bankruptcy and the business is now closed. Some families tell WENY News they are now out thousands of dollars as a result, having pre-paid for services.

Patients and their families are looking for answers after the sudden announcement. Many say they had appointments scheduled in the coming weeks and payment plans through the practice that Dr. Horn says he will not be able to reimburse.

Tasha Taber has been bringing her teenage daughter to Southern Tier Orthodontics in Elmira for almost a year. On Monday, December 30, she booked an emergency appointment for her daughter to receive needed care. However, upon arrival to the scheduled appointment on Thursday morning, Taber was met with a sign on the practice's door that read "OFFICE IS CLOSED DUE TO EMERGENCY."

 Hours later, Taber, and other STO patients, received this text from Horn's office:

"Dear Patients and Families,

It is with great humility and regret that I write to inform you that I must close my orthodontic practice. Personal and financial reasons have compelled me to make this difficult and unavoidable decision.

Unfortunately, I am no longer able to attend to your orthodontic care. You will need to seek care with another orthodontist. Once you establish a relationship with another orthodontist I will immediately forward your records to help ensure a smooth transfer of care. Your dentist can refer you to another orthodontist or you can call the Sixth District Dental Society for a referral. Contact information for the Sixth District Dental Society: PH: (607) 724-1781 or 833-499-0967 Email: [email protected]

Some of you have paid in full or in advance for your orthodontic treatment. Bankruptcy is being declared and I will not be able to reimburse you for past payments or for additional treatment fees you may incur moving forward with your future provider. For this, I am deeply sorry. I humbly apologize, but my personal and financial circumstances leave me with no other option.

I will do my best to address any orthodontic emergencies you have while you seek out the care of another orthodontist. Please email me if you have emergencies at [email protected] and I will respond as quickly as possible. Additionally, you may also call 607-226-2075, and reference our website www.southerntierorthodontics.com. Use current patient password - STO24.

To unsubscribe (607) 733-7163

Please accept my sincere apologies. I recognize that you have placed your trust in me. I have let you down. I am saddened and distressed about this outcome, but circumstances leave me with no other option.

Sincerely,

Jason Horn"

Many patients from STO reached out to WENY News expressing concern that they had already paid or were in the process of paying for treatment plans that have not yet been completed by Dr. Horn.

Taber said her daughter had a tooth extracted and was in the process of surgical movement in her mouth to realign her teeth. On Christmas Day, a band in her mouth broke, requiring Taber to make her an emergency appointment after the holidays. If left untreated for some time, her daughter may need to receive another surgery to correct things once more.

"I'm sure there's other people that are on very limited incomes, and this is going to put quite a deficit in my income," said Taber who had an original bill of $7,500 for her daughter's services from the practice. "Personal loans again, and then I still have to tell my daughter. That's the scary part. She put her trust into Jason Horn and I have to break the news to her here soon and it's gonna break her."

WENY News reached out to Dr. Horn and the Southern Tier Orthodontics office for comment and received no response.

However, an employee at the practice who has chosen to remain anonymous contacted WENY News after seeing WENY's Facebook post requesting comments from patients.

The orthodontist's assistant shared that the employees had no clue about the bankruptcy and were working under normal conditions. On Monday, December 30, they were still caring for patients and booking appointments. On the same day around 5:00 P.M., the employee said they were asked to attend a mandatory meeting with Dr. Horn where they were told about the closure and that they were being let go, effective immediately.

They also added that many of the workers in the practice had family members who received care at STO and are also being put out of money due to the closure. They say that now they are just upset about the outcome for their patients and that they will no longer be providing them with care.

"You've put a lot of families and again, not just the patients, the people who work for him who trusted him as well," said Taber. "It's very unfortunate, it's very sad and it's very tough for people in this community. We're already having tough times here."

Other patients like Taber who reached out to WENY News say that they are not only thousands of dollars in debt but, they are being left to seek care elsewhere on very short notice with limited resources provided to them by Dr. Horn. With pre-existing plans and financial dues, they will also have to dish out more expenses at the offices of future providers.

Many are turning to one another on social media in a Facebook group entitled "Patients of Southern Tier Ortho" and discussing how to take legal action and/or seek some form of reimbursement.

According to the managing partner from Ziff Law Firm in Elmira, Christina Sonsire, options for recovering money are extremely limited due to the financial stress on Dr. Horn and, in turn, STO. Sonsire did share that there are some steps patients can take that may provide a chance for reimbursement.

"The unfortunate reality, and it's really hard to stomach is that, in a situation like this the options are unfortunately very limited," said Sonsire.

Sonsire has a daughter who is a patient at STO. She shared that while dealing with her daughter's future dental care, she is also fielding calls from those seeking legal advice. The firm shared in a Facebook post that they will not take on these cases due to how unlikely full financial recovery may be for families.

An excerpt from that post says:

"Unfortunately, options for recouping expenses and paying for future care are extremely limited. The likelihood of recovering money from Dr. Horn and/or his business is low given the near-certain financial stress they are under, and pursuing orthodontic malpractice claims would take several years and be very expensive, meaning anything close to full financial recovery for families would be unlikely.


For this reason, the Ziff Law Firm will not be pursuing individual malpractice claims for these matters. We encourage families to reach out to large firms that specialize in class action lawsuits as they may have better perspectives as to how recovery could happen. We are doing this as well, and will pass along any information we find as soon as possible."

In the post and in her statements, Sonsire added that the best step to take at this point in time is to file a complaint form through the Consumer Fraud Division of State Attorney General Letitia James' office. Ziff Law Firm added another Facebook post with this information.

"We have to understand making a claim does not guarantee financial reimbursement. But the AG's office has a lot of leverage..." Sonsire said, "...The more people who make claims, the stronger the claims become."

If you would like to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office, you can head to the AG's website and hit the File a Complaint tab. From there, Ziff Law Firm says to use the “Consumer Fraud Issues” link on the right-hand side of the page under the “Popular Complaint Forms” heading and select “Regional Office Binghamton” for the Complaint Bureau.

A copy of the form can also be found here for mailing.

WENY News will continue to follow this story as it develops.