On the night of April 10, 2015, paramedics were called to Brius-operated Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland to rush a paralyzed resident to an emergency room, according to this report filed by inspectors with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

During a visit with his family members, the nursing home resident was shaking and complaining of chest pains. His father alerted the nursing staff and asked if they knew anything that would explain this sudden change in his son’s condition. A member of the nursing staff found his blood pressure to be much lower than normal and the man complaining of chest pains. Nursing home staff contacted his physician who instructed them to call paramedics to take the resident to an emergency room.

Emergency room staff noted that the man arrived “soaked with fecal material extending from his lower back to his knees.” After reviewing ER records, emergency room staff determined this was the same man they discharged from the hospital just five days prior and who was now returning with low blood pressure, altered mental status, shivering, chills, and what appeared to be septic shock. His deteriorated condition forced the hospital staff to admit him into the intensive care unit.

According to the CMS inspection report, the nursing home resident had open bed sores on his mid to lower back and buttocks that showed a loss of skin, revealing muscle and bone. Some of his open wounds were covered in feces, and another was draining pus. Even some of his dressed wounds were soiled with feces, indicating that they had not been changed in some time.

This nursing home had been managed by Brius since August 1, 2014, and was doing business as Brookdale Healthcare and Wellness Centre, LP, according to this CDPH document.

This and other instances of deficient care at Brius facilities prompted California’s Department of Public Health, in July 2016, to deny Brius’ application to operate five more nursing homes in the state based on the company’s repeated failures to comply with established rules and standards governing California’s skilled nursing home industry.

In just one week alone, the below video about Brius, California’s largest nursing home company, has more than 100,000 views on Facebook. Throughout the state, Californians from Eureka to San Diego are waking up to this corporation’s alarming track record.

Video excerpt: “Long-term care experts say Brius demonstrates a flagrant disregard for human life.”

This video presents information about Brius, a company that has been investigated by various government agencies (such as the California Department of Public Health and the California Attorney General’s office) and denounced by consumer organizations (such as California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform).

Click here to share this Brius video on Facebook and here to share it on YouTube.

Five years after acquiring nearly all of Humboldt County’s nursing homes, Brius is threatening to shutter more than half of them, according to the Eureka Times Standard.

Brius’ Rockport Healthcare Services – the administrative service company that manages the nursing homes – alerted the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) of its intention to close Eureka Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, Pacific Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, and Seaview Rehabilitation and Wellness Center

Before any closure can take place the CDPH has to review Brius’ paperwork and approve whatever plans the corporation has submitted for moving each individual patient.

According to state records, Brius operates 449 nursing home beds in the county. The proposed closure of three of these nursing homes could mean the loss of 258 nursing beds, and the displacement of dozens of nursing home residents.

Brius took control of the nursing homes in April of 2011, after Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc., the corporation that formerly ran them, was hit with a $640 million judgment for understaffing its nursing homes over the course of six years (the lawsuit was eventually settled for a lesser amount). In a statement Brius CEO Shlomo Rechitz, wrote “[Brius] is looking forward to working together with the medical community in Humboldt County to deliver the excellent patient care Brius is known for. We’re honored to have the opportunity to make a difference.” And Brad Gibson, whom Brius tasked with managing its Humboldt County nursing homes, told the Eureka Times Standard that “[Skilled Healthcare] just weren’t part of the community anymore, and it was time for them to go.” He went on to claim that with Brius in control of the nursing homes “you’ll see that [nursing] turnover slow down.”

Unfortunately, staffing at these nursing homes has continued to be an issue. Brius alleges unsatisfactory MediCal reimbursement rates and wage competition as factoring into low staffing and financial losses at these nursing homes. Together these two factors have pushed Brius to petition for the closures of these nursing homes with the CDPH.

Did a Brius nursing home discharge a severely physically disabled nursing home resident clandestinely in order to avoid government scrutiny?

Here are the details as reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).

On April 12, 2014, a woman was admitted to a San Diego acute care facility after she was found in her home unable to care for herself. Three days later, she was transferred to Brius’ Clairemont Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

According to the facility’s assessment of the resident, she was unable to walk or move about, and was dependent on staff for nearly all of her needs due to physical limitations affecting both of her arms and legs. The woman also had several medical illnesses and complications — diabetes, high cholesterol, nerve pain, muscle spasms, etc. — requiring regular and consistent monitoring and medications as part of her care.

On the morning of September 9, a team of government inspectors entered the nursing home to conduct a comprehensive review of the facility. While the inspection team was surveying the nursing home its administrator, for reasons not made clear in the report, ordered staff to discharge and remove the woman from the nursing home, seemingly in haste. A staff member, uneasy with the orders, approached a nursing home social worker about her misgivings. The social worker told the staff member that “a cab was coming for Resident A and that the cab would pull around to the back of the facility and that they would sneak Resident A and her belonging[s] into it.“

The woman was wheeled to the rear of the nursing home — a move one staffer described as “unusual” — removed from her wheelchair, and placed into a cab that was waiting to take her to her trailer home. The nursing home released her without notifying a physician. She did not have the means to care for herself and had a urinary catheter still in place.

Three nursing home staff members, who were following behind the cab in a private car, expressed to each other their discomfort with the situation. They knew what they were doing was not right. Their concerns grew when they saw the state of the woman’s trailer. The trailer was filthy; one staff member struggled to keep from vomiting. Despite their misgivings, they laid her on the bed and departed, leaving her unattended — without a phone, without medication, and without food.

Just a few hours later, in response to a neighbor’s phone call, police officers arrived at the trailer to find the woman still in her bed and in need of immediate medical attention. The officers took her to an emergency room where medical staff found that the nursing home had failed to remove the woman’s catheter. The catheter bag was full, its tubing was clogged, and the woman smelled strongly of urine and feces. She also had two severe pressure ulcers on her foot.

One month later, responding to a complaint about this incident, CMS issued the nursing home a “Level 4 Immediate Jeopardy,” the agency’s most severe deficiency.

This and other instances of deficient care at Brius facilities prompted California’s Department of Public Health, in July 2016, to deny Brius’ application to operate five more nursing homes in the state based on the company’s repeated failures to comply with established rules and standards governing California’s skilled nursing home industry.

In July of 2016, the state of California blocked Brius’ CEO, Shlomo Rechnitz, from acquiring the operating licenses to five nursing homes due to the company’s poor track record.

As part of its review process, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) assessed Brius’ compliance history over the past three years (June 22, 2013 – June 22, 2016) and found 386 serious violations of federal and state law during that time.

The Health Department’s examination  revealed 265 federal regulatory violations that had a severity and scope of “Level 2, F” or worse; 108 citations for state licensing violations; and 13 penalties for failing to comply with minimum nurse staffing requirements. The CDPH cited this as support for its recent decision to turn down Rechnitz’ applications to operate more nursing homes.

According to the CDPH, the scope and severity of a federal deficiency is based on how flagrant the violation was, and how widespread the problem was in terms of the affected residents. Here, for example, a “Level 1, A”, the least severe deficiency, would indicate no actual harm with potential for minimal harm for an isolated few nursing home residents, while a “Level 4, L”, the most severe violation, would indicate immediate jeopardy is widespread for nursing home residents. Below is the CDPH’s tally of Brius’ 256 deficiencies over the past three years followed by links to its denial letters.

According to the CDPH, the most severe citation the Department can issue is a class “AA.” Just below this are class “A,” and “B” citations. Below is a  count of Health Department  citations at Brius facilities from June 22, 2013 to June 22, 2016.

Lastly, the denial letter also points out that Brius was hit with 13 penalties for failure to comply with the required minimum nurse staffing requirements  (3.2 Nursing Hours Per Patient Day) in facilities it owned, managed, or operated, either directly or indirectly.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of denial of application to operate Brookdale Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate Chico Heights Rehabilitation and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate Chico Terrace Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate River Valley Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate The Abbey Pavilion Healthcare Center of Anaheim.

On July 8, 2016, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) sent five separate letters to Brius owner, Shlomo Rechnitz, announcing its decision to reject his application to operate five different nursing homes (see below). The CDPH cited Rechnitz’ inability to comply with the rules and regulations governing the skilled nursing industry in California.

This marks the sixth time that Rechnitz has been denied an application by the CDPH. Back in September 2014, his application to operate Riverside Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre (Chico, CA) was denied for similar reasons: a lack of evidence of his ability to comply with the rules and regulations within the state’s skilled nursing industry as set forth by the CDPH.

Since 2006, Rechnitz and/or his Brius corporation have acquired as many as 81 nursing homes across California. His rapid ascension to become the largest owner of nursing homes in California has revealed troubling accounts of his facilities becoming the target of criminal investigations (local, state, and federal), lawsuits, and stiff regulatory fines. Speaking with CBS in Los Angeles Pat McGinnis, Executive Director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that “under [Brius], we’ve had more closures and more decertifications in such a short period of time than any time that I can think of in the last 30 years.”

It seems like the CDPH will continue to deny applications from Rechnitz until he can provide evidence he can operate nursing homes under established standards of care.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of denial of application to operate Brookdale Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate Chico Heights Rehabilitation and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate Chico Terrace Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate River Valley Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

• 2016-07-08: CDPH notice of application denial to operate The Abbey Pavilion Healthcare Center of Anaheim.

• 2014-09-16: CDPH notice of application denial to operate Riverside Point Healthcare and Wellness Centre.

BriusWatch.org and its accompanying social media (https://www.facebook.com/briuswatch and https://twitter.com/briuswatch) document the alarming record of California’s largest nursing home corporation.

Brius has racked up nearly three times as many serious patient-care violations as the average California nursing home and has been hit with multiple lawsuits alleging neglect, wrongful death, and more.

The Los Angeles Long-Term Care Ombudsman says Brius demonstrates “flagrant disregard for human life.”

The California Attorney General called Brius “a serial violator of rules within the skilled nursing industry” while filing an emergency motion to block the corporation’s purchase of 19 more nursing homes.

Brius residents and their families allege in a class action lawsuit that Brius chronically understaffs and underfunds its facilities and “divert[s] resources to create ill-begotten profits.”

Meanwhile, Brius and its multi-millionaire owner, Shlomo Rechnitz, are bringing in huge profits — much of it from taxpayers. The corporation brings in half a billion dollars a year in Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursements.

BriusWatch.org is dedicated to holding Brius and Shlomo Rechnitz, accountable to nursing home residents, their families, and the community. Stay tuned for more information, or join us on Facebook: Facebook.com/BriusWatch.