California nursing homes affiliated with Shlomo Rechnitz are facing lawsuits alleging that patients were raped, ignored and unnecessarily exposed to COVID-19. His companies deny the allegations. This story was originally published by CalMatters. In February 2024, a Los Angeles County jury awarded $2.34 million to an 84-year-old nursing home resident named Betsy Jentz, finding that the […]
Shlomo Rechnitz
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Troubled Nursing Home Chain Owner Shlomo Rechnitz Gets New Licenses Just Before State Reforms Take Effect
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. The nursing homes in question are owned by Los Angeles businessman Shlomo Rechnitz, […]
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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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State Health Department Blasted Over Nursing Home Oversight
At an emotional legislative hearing Tuesday, lawmakers and critics subjected the Newsom administration to blistering questions about the state’s oversight of nursing homes. Assemblymember Jim Wood, a Santa Rosa Democrat who chairs the Assembly Health Committee, questioned the state’s lack of urgency in addressing licensing concerns. “Where is the proactive, patient centered, public safety approach […]
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Shlomo Rechnitz Nursing Home Suit Over COVID Deaths Reflects ‘Broken State Licensing’
The state’s largest nursing home owner, Shlomo Rechnitz, is facing a lawsuit alleging that one of his homes is responsible for the COVID-related deaths of some 24 elderly and dependent residents. The catch? Five years ago, the state denied Rechnitz and his companies a license to operate the place, the state’s own records show. The […]
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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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Top 10 Dick Moves of 2018
Listen, it has been a year. You’d think the dick moves on the national stage would overshadow us but not so. Looking back on 2018, we saw a bevy of folks making classic dick moves — selfishly and flagrantly doing wrong because, well, they could — running the gamut from racism to bad manners with […]
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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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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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Denied: Appellate Court Rejects Rechnitz Appeal for Change of Venue
On July 27 an appellate court ruled against a second plea on behalf of skilled nursing mogul Shlomo Rechnitz requesting that an upcoming elder abuse and wrongful death civil trial be moved closer to Rechnitz’s home and center of operations in Los Angeles County. The suit is being brought by local law firm Janssen Malloy, […]