Iris Ramirez owns four residential care facilities for the elderly in San Diego called Ambassador Senior Retreat. Those facilities, like all licensed RCFE facilities in California, are overseen by the California Department of Social Services – Community Care Licensing (CCL). That means licenses can only be issued by CCL, inspections…
Attorney Randy Walton was invited by the Intertribal Court of Southern California to speak on the issue of elder abuse and nursing home abuse and neglect. The event took place on June 15, 2011 and was hosted by the San Pasqual Band of Indians. Approximately 100 people attended. The event…
Prime Healthcare Services is a Southern California company well known for turning around troubled hospitals. It also happens to be the subject of a federal investigation for possible overbilling in relation to an outbreak of septicemia. Last week’s release of an investigation by the San Diego Union Tribune and California…
The Washington Post is out with an interesting article about a growing national trend – younger patients are ending up in nursing homes. According to the article, approximately one in seven nursing home residents in the United States is under the age of 65, a number that has grown significantly…
This is the time of year that families crisscross the country to see each other and celebrate the holidays, but it’s also a good time to check in older relatives who might be living alone, and under the care of someone. It is estimated that up to two million American…
The unspoken problem with California nursing homes is staffing. Not enough of it, and poor training for those who do it. Who knows what caused this major screw up, but you can be sure it’s related to staffing. A 94-year-old resident of Silverwood Senior Living Facility, a skilled nursing facility,…
It is being reported by California Watch that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigation what is being described as lax care at several California nursing homes, and even threatening criminal and civil actions against those homes. Specifically, the investigators will be examining the use of psychotropic drugs in these…
The California Department of Public Health has levied its harshest fine against a nursing home after a resident fell from a mechanical lift. According to reports, the lift was being to transfer a 60-year-old patient from her wheelchair and into her bed. As nursing assistants were transferring the woman, the…
This story makes one wonder what would happen if a hidden camera sting was done in every nursing home. The attorney general of New York placed a hidden camera in a single room of a long-term care facility, which resulted in an indictment against nine nurses, the nursing home, for…
The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) has launched a comprehensive website that addresses the growing problem of drug misuse in California nursing homes. Every day, approximately 25,000 California nursing home patients are given an antipsychotic drug. Half of all dementia patients are administered these drugs despite FDA warnings…