Medical Malpractice
Select Your State Alaska Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

March 29th, 2006

"California Nursing Home Pays $1 Million-Plus in Negligence Fines"

The second largest nursing home chain in California, Pleasant Care Corp., will pay $1.35 million to the state in a lawsuit settlement, which alleged negligent care and abuse in many of its facilities. Pleasant Care pleaded no contest to the charges of elder abuse.

The suit stemmed from a number of allegations of criminal negligence and nursing home abuse and included more than 160 citations issued by the California Department of Health (DHS) in the last five years.

Last year California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed the 13-count complaint against Pleasant Care and owner Emmanuel I. Bernabe who owns or has interest in over 30 other facilities in the state. Nursing home regulators have prohibited Bernabe or his partners from buying any more facilities in California and a permanent injunction was approved in March by Superior Court Judge Laura Matz.

In addition to the injunction, Pleasant Care faces future financial sanctions if they fail to provide at least 3.2 hours of nurse staffing for each patient every day, which is required by state law, or if they fail to meet the Registered Nurse staffing level standards set by the terms of the injunction. The corporation will be forced to pay up to $6,000 per violation should they fail to meet the requirements of the permanent injunction.

Furthermore, Pleasant Care has agreed to improve quality care issues, mandatory staff training, and quality of care remedies. A whistle-blower provision has also been included allowing staff members, residents, and other individuals to anonymously report alleged violations or resident abuse.

The corporation will also hire a compliance officer who will ensure that each nursing home meets the terms of the laws.

According to Lockyer’s office, Pleasant Care must “immediately and dramatically improve the quality of care provided to residents occupying the company’s more than 4,300 skilled nursing facility beds.”

“It’s a great outcome for patient care and public health,” said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Lockyer. However, the lawsuit is separate from the criminal claims that have been filed against the corporation, according to Barankin.

In March, Pleasant Care of Northern California, a subsidiary of Pleasant Care Corp., pleaded no contest to six charges of criminal negligence filed by Attorney General Lockyer. The lawsuit claimed that the corporation provided negligent care to residents at the now closed Napa home. The facility was charged with five misdemeanor counts of elder abuse and one count of intentionally breaching California’s nursing home patient care standards. Pleasant Care was fined the maximum amount of $12,500 Barakin said.