Dumping Settlement

Illegal Dumping

The L.A. Times reported that law enforcement has accused a California nursing home of illegally “dumping” patients onto city streets.  This is unsafe for the dumped residents.  The family members were not consulted when patients were “dumped” onto the street.

Why would the nursing homes do this?  Money. Greed. The nursing homes wanted room for lucrative COVID-19 patients.

City Atty. Mike Feuer accused Lakeview Terrace of “sustained” and “intentional” misconduct in failing to adequately tend to some patients, while pushing others out of the 99-bed home. The facility got caught. They decided to settle. The settlement requires Lakeview Terrace to double its nursing staff, allow increased oversight and pay $275,000 in penalties and costs.

Incentives

Healthcare experts warned that financial incentives would lead to more dumping by greedy amoral operators. The reimbursement plan pays more than four times more for COVID-19 patients than homes can charge for long-term residents with relatively mild conditions.

The lawsuit is similar to another filed in 2019 by the city attorney’s office against Lakeview Terrace. That action also accused the home of patient-dumping, inadequate care and failure to maintain adequate patient records.

Why do they allow these people to continue to operate a nursing home?