California settlement targets staffing at 17 skilled nursing facilities

The California Department of Justice said Sweetwater violated state staffing requirement laws. The settlement includes $12.5 million in penalties and costs and $2.5 million toward improving staffing and securing a compliance monitor.

The settlement imposes an Independent Compliance Monitor for all 17 Sweetwater skilled nursing facilities for the next three years. California requires skilled nursing facilities to provide a minimum of 3.5 direct care service hours per resident day from nurses and aides, including 2.4 hours from certified nurse assistants. The Department of Justice said that, from 2021 to 2024, Sweetwater facilities were staffed below those mandatory minimum levels in over 14,126 instances while the chain accepted tens of millions of dollars to care for Medi-Cal patients.