On June 25, 2019, the Department of Public Health (DPH) approved a provisional license for The Springs Healthcare Center, a new skilled nursing facility in Murrieta owned by Shlomo Rechnitz and Jose Lynch. In doing so, DPH ignored a long history of neglect at many Rechnitz-owned nursing homes, which DPH itself has documented in great detail, over and over again. To cite a few examples, three of his nursing homes are classified as special focus facility candidates; one of his facilities was cited 10 times in February 2019 for serious neglect of several residents, Rechnitz was denied licenses for five of his nursing homes in July 2016 due to a history of poor care in facilities he owns; three of his nursing homes were terminated from the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs in 2014-2015 due in part to deadly neglect; and a 2018 report by the California State Auditor found that his nursing home chain had far more serious deficiencies and citations than other chains it studied.

Remarkably – and consistent with DPH’s head-buried-in-the-sand manner of regulating nursing homes – its Assistant Director ended her June 25, 2019 approval letter to Rechnitz with this endearment: “Thank you for your shared goals of increasing access to Skilled Nursing Facilities in California while ensuring high quality care for patients and communities.”