On October 12, the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a voluminous final report – Improving Oversight and Accountability Within Skilled Nursing Facilities – of a more than year-long investigation triggered by the devastating death toll in LA County nursing homes during the pandemic and the horrific history of neglect in these facilities that goes back decades. The final report tells the story of life-threatening conditions in some nursing homes and inhumane conditions in others, dysfunctional oversight, downgraded deficiencies, complaint investigations being closed prematurely, failure to make required elder abuse referrals, improper backdating of records, complex chain ownership structures and ineffective penalties. 

Some of its 39 recommendations are: establishing a permanent Skilled Nursing Facility Task Force; supporting safe staffing requirements; creating a comprehensive county-wide SNF crisis mitigation and response plan; and revising its Health Facility Inspection Division’s mission statement to prioritize resident health and safety above all else and to commit to transparency, accountability and public engagement. Notably, it also urges the County to support passage of AB 1502 (Muratsuchi), the CANHR-sponsored nursing home ownership reform bill, and to explore setting up its own system to thoroughly screen nursing home owners.