Attorney General Steps Up Prosecutions of Elder Abuse

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration deemphasizes state penalties at California nursing homes, Democratic Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is making a point of using state laws to prosecute nursing home owners and their employees who mistreat frail residents.

The state Department of Justice has won convictions against more than 300 nursing home workers dating to 1999, when Lockyer took office. Previous state prosecutors had not focused on elder abuse.

The convictions were for crimes including hitting patients, sexual abuse and using forged licenses to obtain nursing home jobs.

In 2001 and 2002, Lockyer’s office prosecuted two of the nation’s largest nursing home owners: the California subsidiary of Beverly Enterprises Inc., of Arkansas, and Sun Healthcare Group of Irvine. In each case, the state obtained permanent injunctions requiring that they improve care. A criminal case against another corporation, Pleasant Care Corp. of La Canada Flintridge, is pending.

“The people who are their patients and clients should take precedence over profit-taking,” Lockyer said.

At the time of the prosecutions, Sun was the state’s largest nursing home operator, with 80 facilities, and Beverly was second, with 60. Sun and Beverly since have sold many of the facilities.

The criminal case against a Sun subsidiary stemmed from a June 2000 heat wave in which two residents died at a home in the San Francisco suburb of Burlingame, and six others were struck by heat-related illnesses.

The home had a history of poor ventilation and lacked air conditioning. The Sun subsidiary pleaded no contest to a felony elder abuse charge.

In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sun said state prosecutors are investigating whether the company has violated the 2001 civil case injunction, which required that it improve staffing, training and supervision.

Sun’s disclosure says it believes it is “currently in full compliance” with the order. But unless the matter is settled, the state probably “will initiate one or more legal proceedings against us,” and an “adverse outcome ... could have a material adverse effect on our financial position,” it says.

“We think they have violated the term of their settlement in ways that are substantial and that are going to result in some significant punishment,” Lockyer said in a recent interview. The investigation continues.

Beverly pleaded no contest in 2002 to two elder neglect charges involving the deaths of a man and a woman. The company paid $2.5 million in civil and criminal assessments.

In a statement at the time, Beverly said it believed the deaths “did not constitute criminal behavior on the part of any of our operating units or our employees.” But the company settled, rather than pursue a “protracted legal and political conflict.”