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Residents of Eastman Healthcare & Rehab, in south-central Georgia, have dealt with sewage backups, unsafe hot water, insect problems, toilets leaking or not flushing, and dietary mix-ups since January 2015, state and federal regulatory documents show. Regulators also found facility mismanagement of residents’ money at the Eastman facility. At one point, some residents’ Social Security checks were deposited, “in error, into the facility’s general operating account instead of the resident trust account.” (Miller, 9/19)

A chain of 35 nursing homes, including three in the Bay Area, and its executives will pay $30 million to settle claims that they billed the government for therapy that their patients didn’t need. The Justice Department announced the settlement Monday with North American Health Care, headquartered in Dana Point (Orange County). Most of the company’s nursing homes are in California, including Petaluma Post-Acute Rehab, Apple Valley Post-Acute Rehab in Sebastopol and Linda Mar Care Center in Pacifica. (Egelko, 9/19)

An administrative law judge Friday upheld a decision by the state Agency for Health Care Administration to approve a new 103-bed nursing home in Alachua County, rejecting a challenge from a competing nursing home firm. The dispute stemmed from a preliminary AHCA decision to award what is known as a “certificate of need” for a nursing home proposed by Alachua County HRC, LLC. Obtaining certificates of need are critical regulatory steps in building nursing homes and hospitals. (9/19)