Nursing Home Operator Sweetwater to Pay State $15M for Staffing Failures

By Amy Stulick 

California-based nursing home operator Sweetwater Care Resource and its affiliates must pay $15 million after failing to adequately staff its nursing homes.

About $12.5 million includes penalties and $2.5 million will go toward improving staffing and employing a compliance monitor for three years, according to a settlement filed by the state attorney general’s office.

The deal affects 22 of the original 27 defendants named in the lawsuit. Limited liability companies Sweetwater Care OPCO, AJC Healthcare and JBG Partners were dismissed from legal action, as well as James Gamett, managing partner of Sweetwater Private Equity, and Aaron Chesley, named as co-founder of Sweetwater Care in Carlsbad, according to a report from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The remaining 22 limited liability companies are subject to the settlement’s stipulations.

Christopher Cherney of Skilled Review Consulting will serve as Sweetwater’s compliance monitor, with real-time access to facility electronic records. Quarterly announced and unannounced site visits or “desk audits” of operations are also required as part of the settlement, according to the Union-Tribune.

State investigators found more than 14,000 instances of inadequate staffing among Sweetwater nursing homes between 2021 and 2024, according to a case filed more than a year ago.

The inadequate staffing of Sweetwater’s 17 facilities, mostly located in rural areas, led to delayed care and patient harm, according to the case. Residents were exposed to preventable neglect, abuse and injuries including fractured bones that went days without assessment or medical care, according to the state.

Each facility must document resident bed repositioning to prevent skin breakdowns, full body checks, bathing, fluid intake to prevent dehydration, dental evaluations and all reports of suspected resident abuse, as part of the settlement.

Quarterly reports are also required for the following quality measures: falls with major injuries, pressure ulcers, UTIs, catheter use, decline in ability to perform activities of daily living, antipsychotic medication use, decline in mobility, and hospitalizations and ED visits per 1,000 days of care provided.

“This settlement is a step in the right direction for Sweetwater Care and it underscores the California Department of Justice’s commitment to standing against any form of Medi-Cal fraud or elder abuse,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “We will continue to hold accountable those who put profits over patients.”

Nursing homes in the state must provide a minimum of 3.5 direct care service hours per resident day from nurses and certified nurse aides (CNAs), 2.4 of which must be CNAs.

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Nursing Home Operator Sweetwater to Pay State $15M for Staffing Failures