- California AG Rob Bonta has secured a $15 million settlement with Sweetwater Care Resource, LLC (Sweetwater), a licensed skilled nursing facility (SNF) chain that he alleges violated state staffing requirement laws. The case was filed under California’s Unfair Competition and False Advertising Laws.
- Skilled nursing facilities have staffing regulations established by the California Legislature that require SNFs to provide a minimum of 3.5 direct care service hours per resident per day from nurses and aids, 2.4 hours of which must come from certified nurse assistants. The AG’s case alleged that Sweetwater, between 2021 and 2024, accepted tens of millions of dollars to care for Medi-Cal patients in its SNFs while an investigation conducted by the Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse revealed consistent understaffing of the Sweetwater nursing homes. Staffing data indicated that Sweetwater SNFs were staffed below California mandatory minimum staffing levels in over 14,126 instances.
- The settlement includes $12.5 million in penalties and costs and $2.5 million in funds toward improving staffing and securing a compliance monitor. The settlement also includes injunctive terms requiring an “Independent Compliance Monitor” for all 17 Sweetwater SNF’s for the next three years.