A San Diego County-based skilled nursing facility chain will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of California that alleged the chain violated state staffing requirement laws.
Sweetwater Care was sued last year by the California Attorney General’s Office, which alleged its facilities were understaffed in more than 14,126 instances between 2021 and 2024, in violation of California law.
The Attorney General’s Office claimed that per a Department of Justice investigation, the understaffing led to some patients being neglected and not cared for despite having serious injuries, including “fractured bones that went days without assessment or medical care.” Others sustained falls that went unwitnessed, were left overnight in soiled diapers, or experienced other medical emergencies that were not responded to in a timely fashion, the AG’s Office claimed…