The state is moving forward with licensing two dozen nursing homes whose primary owner’s companies have a lengthy track record of problems — as uncovered by a CalMatters investigation — despite a new law designed to provide better oversight of the facilities.
From LAist
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An LAist investigation into a separate nursing home chain, ReNew Health, also revealed troubling details about the state’s licensing system. The state allowed the chain to operate nursing homes even after being denied licenses to run those facilities. The reporting was cited in a hearing that led to a new law to close that loophole.
The nursing homes in question are owned by Los Angeles businessman Shlomo Rechnitz, who owns dozens of California facilities through a web of companies.
One of his main companies, Brius Healthcare, has been scrutinized for poor quality care and inadequate staffing, according to federal and state inspection reports, plaintiffs’ attorneys and press accounts. By 2015, government regulators decertified or threatened to decertify three of Rechnitz’s companies’ California nursing homes, a rare penalty that strips facilities of crucial Medicare and Medi-Cal funding.
One of those facilities, Wish-I-Ah Healthcare & Wellness Centre near Fresno, was closed following the death of a 75-year-old resident from a blood infection after staff left behind in her body a foam sponge used in dressing her mastectomy wound. Investigators also found toilets brimming with fecal matter and other serious problems, according to the state’s accusation.
The State Auditor’s office in a May 2018…
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