ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
The answer to “who owns the nursing homes in California” is “who knows?” Home to the largest amount of nursing homes as well as for-profit nursing homes, the fact that it is nearly impossible to tell who owns what is a problem. California does gather ownership information, but the corporate structure of nursing homes is so complicated that the ownership information is virtually useless and difficult to figure out. Even when the information is provided, it tends to be lacking.
For example, a person looking up nursing homes may be able to find the licensee. What they don’t find is who owns the licensee. Or, they may not be able to find the licensee at all. This information is important because you never know if the licensee or owner of the licensee has been convicted or charged with fraud.
Recently, a lawsuit was filed against California by head of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) alleging the Department of Public Health has not been doing its mandated duty of figuring and sorting out nursing home ownership. However, the lawsuit looks only at one, maybe two layers, of nursing home ownership structures. For ownership structures with multiple layers, if corruption or problems are happening above layer two, the lawsuit will not address it.
When looking for a nursing home to put your loved ones in, you want the best. Nursing homes are a major source of elder abuse. Knowing every little thing about a nursing home, complaints, amount of staff, quality of staff, amount of room, any citations, etc. is necessary. The lack of information on ownership thus presents a major problem among California nursing homes. When something goes wrong, you may not know who to hold accountable.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of elder abuse and would like a free and confidential consultation, contact Evans Law Firm, Inc. at 415-441-8669 or info@evanslaw.com to speak with one of our experienced elder abuse attorneys. Evans Law Firm, Inc. handles physical and financial elder abuse, personal injury, banking/insurance fraud, consumer class action fraud, and qui tam (whistleblower/false claims) litigation.
