Local nursing homes are a big step closer to being watched more carefully by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
County supervisors last week approved a contract with the state that will provide nearly $15 million to fund salaries, bring in new workers and cover other expenses largely targeted at bolstering health facility inspections. The contract now awaits state approval.
The change comes after several audits and a quality review by the state found a backlog of incomplete complaint investigations, primarily for nursing homes, owing to a lack of funding and staff within the health department.
“We want to catch problems before they become a major problem,” said Terri Williams, the department’s assistant director of environmental health.
Williams, who oversees the health facilities inspection program, noted that the county has almost 400 nursing homes, more than one-third of the state total.
With amped-up resources, the department will be able to conduct the annual surveys that contribute to a nursing home’s Medicare rating, which rank facilities with from one to five stars, in a more timely fashion. A lag in updated results can be especially frustrating when new management turns around a poorly performing facility but must still shoulder somebody else’s poor results.
“A star rating is something that defines us in the community,” said Avi Saada, administrator at West Hollywood skilled nursing facility West Hollywood Healthcare and Wellness Centre. “To have a star rating from two years ago is not fair. With more staff and money, the annual surveys will be done on time.”
He said it also means more efficiency.
“There’s no point in submitting complaint allegations if they’re not handled on time,” Saada said.
But if the state approves the contract as expected, change won’t happen overnight. Even though the Department of Public Health has contingent job offers out to 66 new nurse evaluators, it would take about a year to train them.
Leap Frog
Molina Healthcare Inc. is moving up in the business world. The Long Beach managed care provider jumped from the S&P SmallCap 600 to the S&P MidCap 400 last week.
Meant to measure the performance of midsize U.S. companies, the midcap index tracks firms with a market cap between $1.4 billion and $5.9 billion. With a market cap of $3.9 billion, Molina sits squarely in the middle. Eligible firms must meet other criteria, such as financial viability and a substantial number of public shares outstanding, among other factors.
“In the short term, it means there will probably be a little more trading activity in our stock as people try to rebalance their portfolio, if they’re in index funds,” said Chief Executive J. Mario Molina. “It gives us a little higher profile and a slightly broader investor base.”
That base will include investors who have certain constraints when it comes to market cap and liquidity, said Brian Wright, an analyst in the New York office of Sterne Agee. He added that it’s a sign of how much the health care firm has matured.
“There are not too many companies out there that can grow 30 percent to 40 percent a year and manage that growth, which they did last year and this year, as effectively as they’ve been able to,” Wright said.
It’s also a present that coincides with the firm’s 35th anniversary.
“Remember, this thing started with a single clinic,” Molina said of the first location his father, C. David Molina, founded in Wilmington in 1980. The chief executive recalled his late father showing him that first building right after buying it.
“We were walking through dirt and leaves on the floor, and I looked up and could see blue sky through the roof,” he said. “I thought, ‘My dad has lost his mind!’ We worked like hell to get it cleaned up and open. … Nobody had in mind being a public company, being a Fortune 500 company or being included in any kind of index when it kicked off 35 years ago. For us it’s a nice milestone.”
Check Ups
Downtown L.A. supplement maker Herbalife Ltd. has hired Eric D. Rosen as vice president of government relations and director of its Washington office. … Lynda Boone Fetter and Arnold Kleiner have been elected co-chairs of the board at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in Los Feliz. … Beverly Hills drug developer Capricor Therapeutics Inc. has hired Dr. Houman Hemmati as vice president of medical and clinical development for new therapies. … West L.A. biopharmaceutical firm CytRx Corp. has appointed Cheryl Cohen to its board.
Staff reporter Marni Usheroff can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 229.
