The National Union of Healthcare Workers is calling on Providence to reverse its decision to shutter its Acute Rehabilitation Unit at the old General Hospital, saying a bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk may delay the required seismic upgrades the healthcare giant cited as a reason for the closure. Providence St. Joseph announced last month […]
Brius
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Wood Introduces Bill to Prioritize Patient Care Over Nursing Home Profits
North Coast Assemblymember Jim Wood is again trying to ensure that more of government funds allocated to care for some of California’s most vulnerable residents are actually spent on patient care. Wood announced Feb. 27 that he had introduced Assembly Bill 1537, which would require that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) spend a minimum of 85 […]
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NCJ Preview: Skilled Nursing and Feeding Those in Need
This week we’re looking into issues in our local skilled nursing facilities — understaffing, lack of care — and how their owner’s business practices play into the problems while making big profits. We’re also talking about the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Facility in Eureka, and how the small staff and volunteers are feeding folks […]
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Governor Signs Contentious Nursing Home Licensing Bill that Splintered Advocates
A controversial bill aimed at fixing aspects of California’s broken nursing home licensing system was signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faced dueling pressure from advocates who typically are aligned. In approving Assembly Bill 1502, the governor had no comment about his decision. The bill was drafted to address serious problems with the state’s […]
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‘People are Dying as We Wait’: Bid to Tighten California Nursing Home Oversight Sputters
An effort to fix problems with the oversight of California’s nursing homes has stalled, sparking fears that the bill is doomed — and prompting elder care advocates to warn that even a delay jeopardizes residents’ safety. “I’m incredibly frustrated,” said Democratic Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi of Los Angeles, author of Assembly Bill 1502. “The pandemic has […]
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WaPo Publishes Scathing Investigative Report on Owner of Humboldt Skilled Nursing Facilities
In case you missed it, The Washington Post recently published a scorching investigative report on Brius Healthcare, which, with 80 nursing homes in California, including four in Humboldt County, is the state’s largest for-profit nursing home operator. The story details how Brius received more than $800 million in Medicare and Medicaid funding in 2018 to […]
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Nursing Homes Balk at New Staffing Rules
More than half of California’s nursing homes, including four in Humboldt County, are asking to be exempted from new state regulations that would require them to spend more time directly caring for their patients. The state’s new staffing requirements for nursing homes, quietly passed in last year’s budget bill, seem universally unpopular. Patient advocates say […]
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More Than Half of California Nursing Homes — Including Humboldt’s — Balk at Stricter Staffing Rules
More than half of California’s nursing homes, including four in Humboldt County, are asking to be exempted from new state regulations that would require them to spend more time directly caring for their patients. The state’s new staffing requirements for nursing homes, quietly passed in last year’s budget bill, seem universally unpopular. Patient advocates say […]
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What we did, and didn’t, learn from the state’s audit of skilled nursing facilities
Brius Healthcare, LLC, did nothing illegal when its local skilled nursing facilities spent millions of dollars on related party transactions, according to a state auditor’s report on the practice that was released May 1. In 2015, Brius spent $65.7 million on services such as building leases, medical supplies and administrative services from companies also owned […]
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State Audit Confirms Inadequacies in For-Profit Skilled Nursing
A report published on the California State Auditor’s website this morning appears to confirm the worst suspicions of state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood, who in June of 2017 requested an audit of skilled nursing providers and the state agencies that monitor them. The audit focused on for-profit company Brius, which holds a […]
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Patient Dumping Case Settles Out of Court
The case of an elderly blind man who was left alone in a hotel room after being discharged from Eureka Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in October of 2016 was settled out of court this week. The conditions of the settlement are confidential. The case, brought on behalf of the decedent’s sister, Sherri Ann McKenna, accused […]
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Off the Top
“We’re understaffed almost every single day. Sometimes we don’t have enough soap or towels,” said Maria Martinez at a recent hearing before California’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Martinez, a certified nursing assistant employed at a Marin County skilled nursing facility for 27 years, was describing a decline in care after the facility was bought by […]