The California Department of Public Health has been lax about collecting fines from businesses and facilities that were cited for nursing home neglect, The Sacramento Bee reports. The California State Auditor has found that between 2003 and 2010, the state health department, which oversees and inspects nursing homes in California, inappropriately reduced monetary fines for some facilities that were cited for neglect or abuse of residents. The fines were also not assessed in a timely manner, the audit found.

Lack of Oversight

In the middle of an unprecedented budget crisis in California, the state regulatory agency lost out on millions of dollars that could have been used to protect nursing home patients from serious personal injuries, according to the audit. The state department oversees, licenses and inspects about 2,500 nursing homes and is responsible for investigating complaints against these facilities too. If the complaints are valid and if there is evidence of abuse or neglect, the department can issue citations and collect fines. The most severe nursing home citation is the AA citation, which carries a $100,000 fine.

The money collected from the fines goes not only into state and federal accounts for temporary management companies that take over distressed or deficient nursing homes, but also for an ombudsman program that investigates complaints by residents. This statewide ombudsman program has been severely hit over the last two years because of lack of state funding.

How lax have regulators been on this issue? The audit found nearly 1,000 out of 1,400 nursing homes appealed their citations between 2003 and 2010 and are still awaiting decisions. This represents a potential loss of nearly $9 million to the State Department of Public Health.

No accountability

This is appalling mismanagement. Not only is the state failing to collect money from nursing homes that neglect their patients, but as a result, nursing homes have no incentive or motivation to clean up their acts. Nursing home operators know by now that they can run their facilities any way they want because the laws lack effective enforcement. In my opinion, a $100,000 fine for causing the death of a patient through neglect is hardly sufficient to send any type of message. Now, we are learning that the state department has failed to collect even those minuscule fines from nursing homes.

If your loved one has been injured as a result of nursing home neglect or abuse, please seek the advice of an experienced California personal injury lawyer about your legal rights and options. The civil justice system is pretty much the only recourse consumers have against these unethical businesses that put profits over the well-being of the people they are supposed to serve.

What should the state of California do to tighten regulations for nursing homes and hold them accountable?