Our San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys are well aware of the negligent care that is unfortunately all too common in nursing homes these days. In 2007, Grover Brown, a paraplegic 37-year-old, debilitated by multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, developed a pressure sore soon after arriving at the High Street care Center in East Oakland.  The sore was first noticed in March of that year.  By August, surgeons were forced to remove Brown’s tailbone because the wound had festered without treatment.  The infection ate away at the bone through the marrow despite repeated treatment orders from physicians to the staff of High Street Care Center.

Now Brown, with the help of a California nursing home neglect attorney, is suing High Street Care Center, which has a long list of citations from the Department of Public Health—164 between 2004 and 2008.  Until December 2008, the facility was owned by Trinity Health Systems, whose president, Randal Kleis, has operated about a dozen facilities across the state under several corporate names.  He turned over operations of the High Street nursing home to Tony and Leticia Perez, who renamed it Oakhill Spring Care Center.  They also run several other facilities, including Oakland Springs Health Care Center, which has recently been in the news as the tragic site of a murder-suicide that occurred at that facility earlier this month.

Although Brown’s treatment was “atrocious,” Brown, now 39, likely won’t see more than a token settlement from High Street Care Center because skilled-nursing facilities, nursing homes and assisted-living care facilities—charged with caring for the sickest and most helpless Americans whose numbers are rapidly growing each year—are not required to carry liability insurance.  The amount of the settlement he may ultimately receive is unlikely to cover the cost of care Brown will require as the result of negligent treatment at the High Street Care Center.  The government will end up picking up the tab for most of his care.

Further, Kleis’ other assets are untouchable because they were legally registered as separate corporate entities—a common way operators shield themselves and their profits.  Unfortunately, that means that going after even the worst nursing home operators is an uphill battle for both the State government and California nursing home negligence attorneys.  The state Attorney General’s Office, which is California’s ultimate watchdog, has gone after fewer than a dozen problem nursing homes for elder abuse and neglect since 2000.  This places the burden on private a California nursing home abuse attorneys to pursue operators—almost always after the damage has been done.

So far, the California Legislature has left it up to the industry to decide when to carry insurance.  As a result, there is no way of telling how many homes go uninsured.

To speak with an experienced San Diego nursing home negligence lawyer, call Berman & Riedel, LLP today at (858) 350-8855.  Our staff will be more than happy to provide you and your family with an initial free consultation to discuss with you any questions or concerns you may have regarding the care that an elderly loved one is receiving at a nursing home or other type of elder care facility.  To learn more about Berman & Riedel, LLP’s elder abuse practice and our San Diego nursing home neglect lawyers, visit the firm’s main website at www.preventelderabuse.com.