Worst Nursing Homes in California

Cases of nursing home abuse and neglect are frequently in the news, making many families uneasy about the use of their services. With over 1,200 licensed long-term care facilities in California, choosing the right one can be difficult.

Use this guide to learn about nursing home ratings, including what factors go into each facility score. We’ll also review a few tips for choosing the right facility for your loved one and leave you with a list of the worst centers in California based on complaints, surveys, and inspections.

How Nursing Center Homes Are Rated

The Nursing Home Reform Law, enacted in 1987, sets specific standards and resident rights that today’s nursing homes must follow. The government monitors these regulations.

The federal and state governments regulate nursing homes, ensuring residents receive proper care and supervision. The federal government regulates nursing homes through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) regulates nursing homes at the state level.

Nursing home ratings are based on a combination of government inspections, resident surveys, and health inspection reports. Additionally, many government agencies and programs aim for even more nursing home reform, hoping to improve the quality of care today’s elderly residents receive.

Government Inspections Through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

CMS is a federal agency that annually inspects the country’s nursing homes. The Social Security Act requires nursing homes to meet specific safety and health standards, and inspections are designed to monitor those standards. Failing a CMS inspection can lead to expensive civil fines, poor ratings, and a loss of funding.

Resident Surveys

CMS also conducts regular resident surveys of previous patients who spent at least 100 days in a nursing home or long-term care center. These surveys are another method of reviewing the quality of care. The survey reviews facility factors, including patient safety, cleanliness, physical hazards, and regulatory compliance.

Other Factors

Other factors contributing to a nursing home’s rating include health inspection reports and citations. A health inspection report lists specific violations and deficiencies, including the center’s progress toward resolution. A copy of the health inspection report is an excellent tool for learning more about a facility’s adherence to specific policies.

List of the Worst California Nursing Homes

California is considered an excellent state for long-term care, but there are several facilities to watch out for. The Nursing Home Abuse Watchlist uses several factors to determine which nursing homes to watch out for, including CMD rating, reports of abuse, staff causing direct harm to residents, health code violations, and more. [5] 

These are the top nursing homes in California they say to watch out for: 

• Lynwood Post Acute Center, Lynwood, CA
• Bay Crest Care Center, Torrance, CA
• Brentwood Healthcare Center, Santa Monica, CA
• Creekside Rehabilitation and Behavioral Health, Santa Rosa, CA
• Crestwood Wellness and Recovery Center, Redding, CA
• Cupertino Healthcare and Wellness Center, Cupertino, CA
• Stockton Nursing Center, Stockton, CA
• Palms Care Center, Chowchilla, CA
• Sonoma Post Acute, Sonoma, CA

Government Ratings

CMS uses a five-star system when rating nursing homes. A five-star rating means the specific nursing home exceeds standards and expectations, whereas a one-star rating means the nursing home’s quality is far below average.

Here are some of the worst nursing homes in California based on CMS ratings: [6]

• AHMC Seton Medical Center, Daly City, CA
• Alhambra Post Acute, Martinez, CA
• Jewish Home & Rehab Center D/P, San Francisco, CA
• Skyline Healthcare Center, San Jose, CA
• Feather River Care Center, Oroville, CA
• Glenoaks Convalescent Hospital, Glendale, CA
• Ramona Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, El Monte, CA
• Long Beach Healthcare Center, Long Beach, CA
• Riverside Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre, Chico, CA
• Cupertino Healthcare & Wellness Center, Cupertino, CA

Each of these nursing homes received a one-star rating. Some of these centers also have a history of physical abuse or neglect.

Health Inspection Citations

Health inspections also evaluate long-term care facilities, ensuring each center meets the quality of life and care, pharmacy service, nutrition and diet, and infection control standards. Here are a few California nursing homes with serious health violations: [7]

• Redlands Healthcare Center, Redlands, CA: Various violations, including failing to report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft in a timely manner.
• Country Manor Healthcare, Lake View Terrace, CA: Various freedom from abuse, neglect, and exploitation deficiencies.
• Eureka Rehabilitation & Wellness Center, LP, Eureka, CA: Failure to protect residents from physical, mental, or sexual abuse or neglect.
• River View Post Acute, Modesto, CA: Citations related to a failure to provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.

Nursing homes that receive health inspection citations are given the chance to resolve them. It’s important to note that many of the nursing homes listed received multiple citations or violations.

CMS also works with certain Special Focus Facility (SFF) program participants. In an attempt to improve the quality of the nursing home system as a whole, CMS works with certain troubled nursing homes to improve their ratings. 

The SFF program enrollees will undergo a facility inspection every six months. However, while there are many SFF candidates, CMS only accepts a small number of facilities at a time.

Lawsuits

Lawsuits can also tell a lot about a nursing home’s quality, especially as it relates to cases of abuse or neglect. California’s nursing homes have been subject to a few prominent lawsuits.

Recently, a California-based nursing home chain was ordered to pay $7M in a settlement agreement for allegedly making false claims during the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. The group, ReNew Health Consulting Services LLC, fraudulently filed false claims stating that numerous residents had or were exposed to COVID-19 when they hadn’t been.

In another case, a well-known California nursing home, Mariner Health Care Inc., was ordered to pay $15.5M for alleged understaffing. The lack of staffing led to the negligent care of residents in all 19 of the company’s centers [2]. The negligent staffing led to unnecessary surgeries, disease, pests, and sexual assault cases.

Factors Contributing to Nursing Home Abuse

Many factors can contribute to nursing home abuse, with some of the most common including the following.

Understaffing

Understaffing is one of the most common causes of nursing home abuse and neglect. A nursing center with insufficient staff cannot provide residents with quality care. Residents are at an increased risk of falls, medication errors, or malnutrition. Patients in an understaffed center are also less likely to receive prompt medical care when needed.

Inadequate Training

Having sufficient staff in a nursing home isn’t enough. Nursing staff should also be adequately trained based on their expected job duties. A nursing home or hospital that offers specialized care, like Dementia or memory care, requires additional staff training. Nursing center administrators are responsible for hiring trained staff and offering further training as needed.

Financial Pressures

Financial pressures can lead to a nursing home or rehabilitation center cutting costs, which impacts the quality of care. Nursing home administrators may schedule fewer employees, pay existing staff less, or fail to keep up with building maintenance and repairs, which can put the resident at risk.

Corporate Ownership

Research shows that severe injury and mortality rates of private equity-owned nursing homes are higher than those of not-for-profit facilities. The research found that corporate-owned nursing homes used unnecessary antipsychotic drugs 50% more, decreased nurse staff by 3%, and yet increased taxpayer obligations per resident by 11% [3].

It may be surprising to learn that corporations own approximately 72% of the country’s nursing homes [4].

Protecting Nursing Home Residents

Organizations like CMS and state regulators aim to protect nursing home residents through regulations and inspections. However, nursing home abuse and neglect can and still do occur. Here are a few tips to help your family choose the best facility for your loved one.

Research and Inspection

Research helps families learn more about the nursing facilities in California. Consider reviewing CMS ratings and health inspection reports during your research. Using this information, California’s families can avoid the worst facilities that have failed to meet government regulations and have numerous patient complaints. 

That’s why the Nursing Home Law Center aims to connect family members with the resources they need to make an informed decision.

In-person visits are also important when choosing the right facility for your loved one. Tour the room where your family member will stay, as well as any common spaces. Compare your tour with other facilities you’re considering. Talk with other residents and family members to learn more about the facility’s overall morale.

Ask Questions

Be sure to ask many questions about any facilities you’re considering. Here are a few questions to ask the nursing home staff or administrators:

• Is this facility accredited? If so, by who?
• What is the average staff-to-ratio you achieve here?
• What do previous residents say about their care?
• What is the process of hiring workers? What about the training process?
• How high are staff turnover rates?
• What policies are in place to keep residents safe?
• Who is in charge of implementing new policies?
• What are your current CMS ratings?
• Have you ever received any serious health violations?

Being involved in your loved one’s care is one of the best ways to avoid poor care or potential abuse, and asking questions opens the lines of communication with the care team.

Trust Your Instincts

Always trust your instincts. In addition to reviewing previous complaints and touring the facility, pay attention to how you feel about the center and its staff.

Contact a California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

We invite California family members to contact our law firm today with questions about the state’s nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. Whether your family is searching for a nursing home or rehabilitation center in San Francisco, San Jose, or El Cajon, our legal team is here to help.

Call a California Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Today!

Thorough research and in-person visits are important steps in protecting your loved one. However, there’s no guaranteed way to prevent the mistreatment of a resident. The Nursing Home Law Center is here to help serve justice when a nursing home is negligent in its caregiving duties.

If your loved one was the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, you must reach out to a lawyer as soon as possible. Contact us today for a free consultation at (800) 926-7565, or fill out our online form.

Resources: [1] Office of Public Affairs U.S., Department of Justice, [2] KRON4, [3] CMS, [4] Fortune. [5] NHAA, [6] Medicare, [7] ProPublica