(KRON) — Mariner Health Care Inc., a major California nursing facility, has reached a $15.5 million settlement over alleged understaffing, leading to negligent care and mistreatment of their patients, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Tuesday.
Mariner Health owned over 19 skilled nursing facilities across California. All 19 facilities, including their Alameda facility, were named in the settlement. Five of the facilities were also accused of being illegally understaffed, the complaint said.
According to the initial 2021 complaint, inadequate care due to understaffing resulted in an unnecessary amputation, the spread of diseases such as lice and pests among residents, and a high number of unreported sexual assault cases, among other issues.
Mariner also allegedly falsified staffing numbers to government regulators in an attempt to improve their published ratings, the complaint said (attached below).
“Skilled nursing facilities should always provide their residents with the highest standard of care,” Bonta said in a statement. “Instead, Mariner jeopardized residents’ health and well-being, and misled prospective residents and their families about the quality of its California facilities.”
As part of the settlement, Mariner will be required to reform and improve its practices and the services for residents in their California skilled nursing facilities, implement an independent monitor for no less than three years, and pay $2.25 million in costs and up to $15.5 million in civil penalties.
