Bill Protects Seniors From Being Evicted

Saying it plugs “a hole in the system,” a state assemblyman Tuesday hailed the governor’s approval of a measure prohibiting the unexpected eviction of nursing home residents in the event of the home’s bankruptcy.

Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) said he wrote the bill after an incident last fall in which 63 residents of a bankrupt Reseda nursing home were evicted without warning late at night, frightening the patients and panicking their families.

“We saw the problem and we took action,” Hertzberg said during a visit to the district.

The measure (AB 2141) was signed Monday by Gov. Pete Wilson and assigned to Chapter 474 of the state codes by the secretary of state. The bill, which goes into effect Jan. 1, requires that state health authorities be notified if a nursing home goes into bankruptcy and provides for the orderly transfer of residents to other facilities.

“We have a whole host of regulations to protect seniors, but there was a hole in the system,” Hertzberg said. “We saw how horrible the consequences were in the case in Reseda.”

In the Sept. 26 incident, families of elderly residents at the Reseda Care Center scrambled to find housing for their relatives, many with special needs, after a court-appointed trustee ordered the seniors’ eviction without warning late on a Friday night. Hertzberg called the abrupt move traumatic to the lives of the residents.

Commenting on the governor’s approval, Hertzberg said, “I am very happy about this. It is not an insignificant issue to seniors in these facilities. These are important safeguards.”

California law currently requires 30 days’ notice prior to the closure of any health facility. However, the law applies only to licensed health-care operators and did not extend to trustees acting in a bankruptcy.

The new measure requires the licensed operator to contact the state Department of Health Services, which regulates long-term care facilities, immediately after a petition of bankruptcy is filed. State officials are then required to inform the trustee of all procedures for operating or closing a facility, including proper notification of residents and their families and orderly transfers to other facilities.

The home was being operated by Phoenix Health Group of Scottsdale, Ariz., which filed for bankruptcy at the Reseda location in Sept. 5, 1997. The health group later filed for bankruptcy at three other nursing care facilities in Southern California.

The trustee of the Reseda home ordered the eviction just two days after he was appointed to the position. He told officials the abrupt action was necessary because the facility lacked food and supplies to meet immediate needs and could not pay overdue bills and employee wages.

The trustee said he was not aware that the state has an emergency fund that could have been used to stall action for several days.

The 99-bed facility in the 6700 block of Wilbur Avenue reopened earlier this year under new management. Called the Center at Parkwest Inc., it is operated by the Chase Group of Thousand Oaks.

In a separate action, the governor for the third time vetoed a measure (AB 1112) by Hertzberg that would have required health plans to cover prescription drugs used by women as contraceptives.