California nursing homes owned by The Ensign Group put seniors at risk of serious injury including bed sores, repeated falls, unexpected weight loss, medication errors and other problems, according to a new report by Nursing Home Watch.

The group is calling on the state to fix the Medi-Cal (similar to Medicaid in other states) funding system so that providers are held accountable for quality care.

“I would be very reluctant to put any of my loved ones in an Ensign nursing home,” said Reverend Bill Miller, United Methodist Minister of the Whittier Area Peach and Justice Coalition and a member of Nursing Home Watch. “We’re holding this company to account. Regulators, customers, elected officials-we’re going to call on all of them to help Ensign clean up their act.”

The Ensign Group is one of the fastest-growing nursing home chains in Arizona with seven facilities in Phoenix, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa and Tucson.

The report, “Condition Critical: How Care for Seniors Suffers in California’s Ensign Group Nursing Homes,” shows that while in many cases they provide less resident care than the average California nursing home, Ensign homes make about four times more than the state average in profits, Nursing Home Watch said in a statement.

Nursing Home Watch said that Ensign’s care record demonstrates the need for a new Medi-Cal reimbursement system in California. More than two-thirds of care for nursing home residents is covered by Medi-Cal. But the care reimbursement amount is not tied to the quality of care provided or the amount of money actually spent on care, the group said. This makes it easy, in their opinion, for operators like The Ensign Group to cut corners on patient care.

A bill introduced last week by Assembly member Dario Frommer, the Nursing Home Quality Care Act (AB 1629), would create a new system that bases Medi-Cal reimbursement on the actual cost of care, holds homes accountable for residents’ quality of life, and would tap into more federal Medicaid dollars to help fund the new system through a quality assurance fee.

Nursing Home Watch is a coalition of senior advocates, nursing home staff, nursing home residents and family members, the Service Employees International Union and community supporters who have united to improve the safety and quality of care in California’s nursing homes.

(via PR Newswire)