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The California nursing home chain owned by Shlomo Rechnitz has faced state scrutiny for years, including a failed effort by then-Attorney General Kamala Harris to stop him from acquiring more facilities. A series of recent lawsuits have now emerged renewed attention to his companies.
Senior care advocates say Rechnitz’s companies are Exhibit A of how regulators at the Department of Public Health are failing some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.
Rechnitz’s companies have denied the charges in all of those cases, which include several set to go to trial next year and two in 2024 that have resulted in multimillion-dollar judgments against the companies.
- Mark Johnsonattorney for the facilities and their holding company, Brius: “It’s true that nursing homes are the target of abusive lawsuits that accomplish nothing more than depleting patient care resources.”
Wendy York, a Sacramento attorney specializing in nursing home abuse, said watching elderly and disabled residents repeatedly suffer the same types of injuries in these facilities “feels like a broken record. It feels like Groundhog Day.”
In 2021 a CalMatters investigation found that the state Department of Public Health allowed Rechnitz and his companies to operate 18 nursing homes while delaying a decision to grant them licenses. The state kept the license applications in “pending” status after he acquired them. Rechnitz and his companies were allowed to continue operating five additional homes even after the state denied licenses for those facilities.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law intended to solve the problem, but state regulators in 2023 granted Rechnitz’s companies licenses to operate the homes just before the measure took effect.
Now, some of those facilities are the subject of lawsuits from patients, including one that resulted in a $2.3 million verdict against Country Villa Wilshire.
CalMatters’ Jocelyn Wiener covers state oversight of Rechtnitz’s company in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out her latest story here.
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Other stories you should know
CA law seeks to preserve civil rights in K-12 schools
A new California law aims to expanding civil rights protections in K-12 schools as the federal administration under President Donald Trump moves to shut down the U.S. Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights, CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones reports.
In October, California lawmakers passed a measure to create an Office for Civil Rights within the California Department of Education. The office includes an anti-Semitism coordinator who will investigate complaints and train school districts on how to prevent anti-Semitism. The office is also required to submit an annual discrimination report to the legislature, which will include information such as the number of complaints.
Before Trump’s return to the White House, most of K-12 anti-discrimination enforcement fell to the federal government’s Office for Civil Rights. But in March, the Trump administration began cutting nearly half of the federal Department of Education’s staff, closing multiple branches of the Office for Civil Rights, including one in California. On Tuesday, the administration also unveiled a plan to spin off key areas of education department oversight to other federal departments.
Lt. Governor votes against UC tuition hike
The University of California Board of Regents voted Wednesday to the annual increase in tuition fees continueddespite pushback from some regents and students, writes CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinstein.
The tuition model allows the public university system to increase undergraduate tuition and fees system-wide by up to 5% per year. But what students pay for tuition once they enroll doesn’t change because their rate will be locked into that year for up to six years after enrollment. Graduate students who are not on the same tuition model will continue to see annual tuition increases.
The regents voted 13 to 3 to approve the plan, which begins in 2026-27. UC officials say the plan ensures the system can collect more revenue as student tuition costs rise.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, one of the regents who voted against the move, said the decision to continually raise tuition should be reviewed at least annually, not left alone for years. Students also denounced the plan. About half of UC’s in-state students live in households with incomes below $120,000.
- Diego Emilio BoloUCLA Student Association President: ‘Students are not UC’s backup budget plan.’
And finally: Healing at a San Diego preschool
Mi Esquelita is a free, year-round preschool with individual and group therapy. CalMatters’ Adriana Heldiz and Director of Video Strategy Robert Meeks have a video segment about this San Diego program dedicated to young students who have experienced family traumaas part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.
SoCalMatters airs at 5:58pm weekdays on PBS SoCal.
California voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: With high housing and gas prices, Californians are paying through the nose to live in the state, and it’s no surprise that hundreds of thousands of residents have abandoned for more affordable countries.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara should resign immediately for his failure to stop illegal insurer delays and denials and the promotion of policyholder dumping, writes Joy Chenexecutive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network and former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, and Jill Spivak, a survivor of the Palisades fire.
Other things worth your time:
The White House drafts an order directing the DOJ to sue states that adopt AI regulations // The Washington Post
Rep. Calvert of California was one of at least three The Republicans Who Killed Solar Subsidies — After Using Them // A politician
Exclusive: Newsom reacts to former aide’s arrest — “genuine surprise and shock” // The Sacramento Bee
CA AG Bonta spent close to half a million on lawyers. His political consultant explains why // Los Angeles Times
Child Farmworkers in CA: Exhausted, underpaid and working in toxic fields // Capital & Main
Clearing the homeless camp can harm health. Some cities are trying a new way // Compromises
The housing strategy which has a CA NIMBY in the corner // New York Times
CA kills the offered program up to $2K for new electric bikes despite huge popularity // San Francisco Chronicle
18 prisoners are asking for a reduction in their sentences under the rarely used CA Racial Equity Act // Los Angeles Times
ICE pursues Oakland parent when leaving school during attempted arrest, city council member says // San Francisco Chronicle
