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Department of Public Health Denies Ownership Applications by California’s Largest Nursing Home Operator

Posted onAuthorKiara Lopez

On July 8, 2016, the California Department of Public Health (DPH) denied applications submitted by Shlomo Rechnitz that sought licenses to operate five nursing facilities. Mr. Rechnitz – who has been identified as California’s largest nursing home operator – was acquiring the nursing homes from Windsor, another nursing home chain headquartered in California. The applications had been pending since February 2015.

The five nursing homes involved in these denials are:

  • Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland, located at 2919 Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland, which was to be operated as the Brookdale Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LP;
  • Windsor Chico Care Center, located at 188 Cohasset Road in Chico, which was to be operated as the Chico Terrace Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LP;
  • Windsor Chico Creek Care and Rehabilitation Center, located at 587 Rio Lindo Avenue in Chico, which was to be operated as the Chico Heights Rehabilitation & Wellness Centre, LP;
  • Windsor Redding Care Center, located at 2490 Court Street in Redding, which was to be operated as the River Valley Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LP; and
  • Windsor Gardens Convalescent Center of Anaheim, located at 3415 W. Ball Road in Anaheim, which was to be operated as The Abbey Pavilion Healthcare Center of Anaheim.

Each of the five 21-page letters issued by DPH extensively documents serious violations at numerous nursing facilities owned, managed or operated by Mr. Rechnitz. According to the letters, during the three prior years these facilities received:

  • 39 “immediate jeopardy” level deficiencies;
  • 108 citations, including one Class “AA” citation, 37 Class “A” citations and 70 Class “B” citations;
  • 13 administrative penalties for failure to comply with the legislatively mandated minimum staffing requirement of 3.2 nursing hours per resident day.

The DPH letters cited poor care or abuse at two of the Windsor facilities involved in the application denials as part of the basis for denying the applications. The letters state that Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland and Windsor Chico Creek Care and Rehabilitation Center were each cited for “immediate jeopardy” level deficiencies in 2015, apparently while being managed by entities connected to Mr. Rechnitz.

CANHR opposed approving the applications submitted by Mr. Rechnitz due to the very poor performance history cited by the Department in its July 8th letters.

Read the letters: