It is safe to say that any skilled nursing facility or nursing home that follows proper infectious disease protocols should be able to limit the spread and outbreak of any given pathogen that comes along. Nursing homes are required to pass stringent licensing requirements to get into business in the first place, and both the staff and ownership of such facilities chose this line of business — to be entrusted with taking care of society’s most vulnerable population. If anything, they should work extra hard to avoid the spread of all kinds of diseases, as this is their chosen line of business. This past year’s outbreak of COVID-19 exposed hundreds of such facilities that played fast and loose with the rules and forced its staff and residents to pay the price. One such facility is Windsor Redding Care Center in Shasta County, California.
Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised to hear that Windsor Redding Care Center is owned by Brius Healthcare, primarily held by Shlomo Rechnitz, who controls a large empire of mostly California facilities. In 2018 alone, Brius received more than $800 million from Medicare and Medicaid to care for residents in 80 nursing homes. Like many for-profit nursing home chains, Brius eschews outside vendors and instead pays related-party companies for nearly all of its goods, services, and rent. Worse than the double-dealing, Brius’s track record for quality of care is abominable.
How Windsor Redding Care Center is part of a larger problem
Windsor Redding Care Center is merely the tip of the Brius iceberg. Last October, news reports surfaced when the facility reported 17 Coronavirus deaths, 63 residents tested positive, and 24 health care workers at the facility also tested positive. Note that there are only 89 residents at the facility; that’s a staggering death rate of 19%.
Last October, KRCR ABC-7 reached out to administrators at the facility, including phone and in-person visits, but no one was willing to speak.
Unfortunately, we know exactly why it got so bad. Windsor Redding is known as a “Special Focus Facility Candidate,” which means it has a history of serious quality issues. According to Pro Publica, the home has been cited 115 times since 2017.
The severe deficiencies that occurred at Windsor Redding are likely to continue until the government steps in.
Attorney Wendy York of York Law Firm specializes in prosecuting elder abuse and wrongful death cases. Please contact York Law firm if you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance.