-Attorney Newsletter-
As of February 1, 2013, Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (SKH) is required to undergo regular audits and to submit quarterly reports regarding alleged elder endangerment involving staffing and caregiving violations at their multiple California nursing home facilities. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) cited seventy-six alleged violations and 209 alleged staffing deficiencies in the complaint brought by the California State Attorney General’s Office . The criminal complaint filed on October 31, 2013 by the State Attorney General Kamala H. Harris on behalf of the People v. Skilled Healthcare, LLC, Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC et al, alleges multiple violations of California Penal Code Sec. 368 for elder endangerment. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA)
As part of the settlement, SKH must appoint a Compliance Officer who will be responsible for supervising and ensuring compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement. The Compliance Officer will submit quarterly reports to the State Attorney General’s Office. SKH will pay for the monitoring, which will continue for a period of two years at a cost of $350,000 per year paid by SKH.
Among the alleged violations cited in the complaint were failure to prevent pressure ulcers, dehydration, malnutrition, over-medication and medication errors, deficient catheter care,urinary incontinence, and naso-gastric feeding care practices.
According to Attorney General Kamala H. Harris, California’s elderly population is growing twice as fast as the general population. She states that the settlement will ensure improved quality of care at the multiple SKH nursing home facilities. SKH has twenty facilities with approximately 2,360 beds in its various caregiving facilities located throughout Orange County and as far north as Humboldt County.
If you are concerned about elder endangerment of a senior by a caregiver, nursing home or medical provider, contact a qualified attorney at the The Evans Law Firm, info@evanslaw.com or 415-441-8669.
About The Evans Law Firm
www.evanslaw.com San Francisco, CA
The Evans Law Firm handles elder abuse (physical and financial), consumer fraud class actions involving particularly insurance and banking fraud claims, consumer product liability and personal injury/wrongful death cases, asbestos-mesothelioma, pharmaceutical product liability, negligence personal injury claims, as well as Qui Tam (whistleblower/false claims), IRS tax fraud lawsuits, securities fraud whistleblower reward lawsuits, retaliation and employment litigation.
