The settlement includes all of Mariner Health Care Inc.’s California skilled nursing facilities, including five facilities within Alameda County.
OAKLAND, CA: Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price joined the California Attorney General’s Office and the District Attorneys from Los Angeles, Marin, and Santa Cruz Counties in announcing a $17.75 million top-value settlement against Mariner Health Care Inc. and its related operating and holding companies (Mariner) which operate 19 skilled nursing facilities throughout the state, including five facilities in Alameda County.
“This case involved very vulnerable patients needing specialized health care,” said Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. “The hard-working prosecutors in our Consumer Justice Bureau helped the statewide team ensure that the Mariner facilities in Alameda County were held accountable for any mistreatment or neglect their patients may have experienced and to ensure that Mariner follows the law moving forward.”
The settlement filed in Alameda County, is linked to the Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan of two of the Mariner entities that are in Chapter 11, will provide injunctive relief for a minimum of five years, oversight by an independent monitor for a minimum of three years, payment of $2.25 million in costs, and penalties of up to $15.5 million dollars for any violations of the injunction or law.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office’s investigation into Mariner dates back to 2019 when it joined the California Department of Justice’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse and the three other county district attorney offices in investigating allegations of neglect and abuse of residents in Mariner’s skilled nursing facilities (i.e., infected bedsores, falls, disease, pests or assault), including at Parkview Healthcare Center in the City of Alameda.
When informal efforts failed to secure Mariner’s full compliance with the law, a formal complaint was filed against Mariner and its affiliated operating companies on April 8, 2021. The 2021 civil complaint alleged Mariner violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, provisions of the California Health & Safety Code, and state/federal regulations by understaffing its facilities and subjecting its patients to negligent care while inflating their skilled nursing facilities advertised ratings to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The stipulated judgment entered into by Mariner (which neither admits nor denies any wrongdoing) makes the above injunctive terms permanent, with sunsetting provisions for the court-appointed monitor that the Court can lengthen if continued violations occur. It also places the $15,500,000 “hammer” in civil penalties above Mariner should it seek to escape or continue to violate its obligations.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office (DAO) is one of California’s largest prosecutors’ offices and is led by Alameda County’s first Black woman District Attorney Pamela Y. Price. Price brings her vision to this office to fairly administer justice in the pursuit of thriving, healthy, and safe communities for every person who steps foot in Alameda County, no matter their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, income, or zip code. Price has been recognized as one of the most progressive prosecutors through her forward-thinking, innovative strategies to interrupt cycles of violence and crime and bring change to a criminal justice system rooted in systemic racism.
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