Nursing home operator Skilled Healthcare has been ordered to pay more than $671 million for failing to provide adequate staffing at its assisted-living facilities.
A Humboldt California County jury returned the verdict Tuesday in the class-action lawsuit against the Foothill Ranch-based company, more than seven months after the civil trial began.
The lawsuit alleges that the company violated a California statue that mandates 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day.
Skilled Healthcare said the jury imposed $613 million in statutory damages and $58 million in damages for restitution. The jury will decide the extent of punitive damages next week.
"This is a really strong statement to Skilled Healthcare that they have to follow the law," said plaintiff's attorney Michael Thamer. "They need to know that they are going to be held responsible."
Skilled Healthcare Chairman and CEO Boyd Hendrickson said in a statement that the company is "deeply disappointed" in the verdict and believes its nursing homes are appropriately staffed.
"We strongly disagree with the outcome of this legal matter, and we intend to vigorously challenge it," he said.
The judge will decide later whether to issue an injunction that would require Skilled Healthcare to keep staffing levels in compliance with the law.
The complaint covers the period from 2003 to 2009 and represents about 32,000 patients at 22 facilities, including five in Humboldt County.
Skilled Healthcare is one of the country's largest nursing home chains, operating 78 nursing facilities in seven states and employing about 14,000 people.
Cindy Cool, who testified on behalf of her father, a patient at Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation before he died from complications of Alzheimer's disease, said she hopes the lawsuit will improve conditions for future patients.
"I'm so thankful for this," Cool said. "We just want our loved ones to be taken care of."
Contact Steven Peck's Premier Legal toll free at 1.866.999.9085 to talk to an experienced California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney and visit us on-line at www.premierlegal.org.
