Nursing Home Removed From Medicare Rolls

A nursing home in Orange County has been removed from Medicare and Medi-Cal rolls because of alleged inadequate care of patients, a state official confirmed Wednesday.

Jacqueline Lincer, district administrator in Orange County for the state Department of Health Services, said the action has been taken against the Carehouse Convalescent Hospital, 1800 Old Tustin Ave., in Santa Ana. Lincer said Carehouse is licensed to care for up to 150 patients.

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services decertified the nursing home for the federal medical money, she said, because state inspections had shown insufficient care of patients and inadequate laboratory services.

Carehouse Convalescent Hospital is owned by Summit Care Corp. of Los Angeles. Officials of the corporation could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

It was the second such disciplinary action this year against an Orange County nursing home. In July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services withdrew Medicare and Medi-Cal certification for Huntington Beach Convalescent Hospital following allegations of patient care violations.

Lincer said Wednesday that loss of Medicare and Medi-Cal certification “is fairly rare” for nursing homes. In 1985, one Orange County nursing home was temporarily suspended from Medicare and Medi-Cal certification as a disciplinary measure. The county has 62 nursing homes, she noted.

The government action against Carehouse Convalescent Hospital becomes effective for new patients on Sept. 23, Lincer said. Current patients will be cut off from eligibility for the funds at that nursing home on Oct. 23, Lincer said.

Lincer said that state inspectors have issued several citations against both Carehouse Convalescent Hospital in Santa Ana and Fountain Convalescent Hospital in Orange, which also is owned by the Summit Care Corp. Lincer said that Fountain Convalescent Hospital remains eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare; it was cited in August for a so-called “Category A” infraction, one that the state believes puts a patient in “imminent danger.”

The citation charged that a patient who could walk when he entered Fountain Convalescent Hospital was unable to walk a year later because of inadequate care.

Summit Care Corp. also owns Canyon Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is investigating that nursing home, at the request the county’s Department of Health Services, Deputy City Atty. Gary T. Rowse said Wednesday. Rowse said his office hasn’t decided whether to file criminal charges.

Rowse said that two years ago, his office prosecuted another nursing home owned by Summit Care Corp., Corbin Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles, for alleged violations of nursing-home regulations, which are contained in state law. In a settlement, Summit Care Corp. was placed on probation and ordered to contribute $30,000 to a program aimed at improving nursing-home conditions, Rowse said.

Nursing homes, by state law, provide homes for people who are not fully capable of taking care of themselves. Such facilities require registered or licensed nurses on the staff. By contrast, board-and-care facilities do not require staffing by nurses, but these homes, by state law, are limited to residents who can care for themselves and are ambulatory.