Data Center: Health & Welfare

California nursing homes have received $880 million in additional funding thanks to a 2004 state law designed to help homes hire more staff and increase wages. California Watch looked at the 645 nursing homes that stood to gain the most from the new law — homes that serve the largest number of low-income Medi-Cal patients who need 24-hour care.

The map below illustrates how many homes either cut their staffing rate, cut workers' wages or fell beneath a state staffing minimum set in 2000. Some homes fell short in more than one area.

Learn more about how the analysis was done or read the story.

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Statewide stats

California has nearly 1,100 nursing homes. Here's a look at the 645 homes that stood to benefit the most.

Medi-Cal revenue Sum of the total state and federal spending 25 percent increase Net income Sum measure of profit 127 percent increase Direct care staffing Average nursing hours per patient day. The state minimum is 3.2. 5 percent increase CNA wage per hour Average hourly wages (not inflation-adjusted) 15 percent increase

Zoom in to see all the homes in your area. Homes fell short by cutting staffing, wages or falling below a state staffing minimum. Homes that fell behind in three or more categories Homes that fell behind in two categories Homes that fell behind in one category Homes that meet all requirements

Facility stats

Click on each header to sort by the column. You can also click on each facility name for more information.

Source: California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development

The data used in this analysis has been provided by homes to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. California Watch downloaded this data from the OSHPD Web site and crunched the numbers.

Three facilities were removed from the analysis by California Watch because the data was potentially inaccurate and could not be verified. Two facilities were missing data for most fields for a year and one had a net income so far removed from any other value in the data that California Watch deemed it an outlier and removed it. Some homes that may have cut staff, reduced wages or fallen below state minimum staffing levels could have seen a drop in Medi-Cal funding or net income.

California Watch feels the data is fundamentally sound and conducted accuracy spot checks. However, we did not independently verify every single record in the database. We urge readers to let us know if they spot any problems. You can also contact the homes or the state directly if you have questions about the data.

Here's how we calculated Medi-Cal revenue: First we added up the categories gross routine services revenue Medi-Cal and gross ancillary services revenue Medi-Cal inpatient. Then we subtracted contractual adjustments Medi-Cal.

Here's how we calculated direct care staffing: First we added up productive and temporary hours for registered nurses, geriatric nurse practitioners, licensed vocational nurses, psychiatric technicians and nurse assistants (aides and orderlies) plus productive hours for technicians and specialists. Then we divided by the total patient days.

Here's how we calculated RN wages: We divided the salaries and wages for registered nurses by the productive hours.
Here's how we calculated LVN wages: We divided the salaries and wages for licensed vocational nurses by the productive hours.
Here's how we calculated CNA wages: We divided the salaries and wages for nursing assistants by the productive hours.

Here's how we calculated RN staffing: First we added up the productive and temporary hours for registered nurses. Then we divided by the total patient days.
Here's how we calculated LVN staffing: First we added up the productive and temporary hours for licensed vocational nurses. Then we divided by the total patient days.
Here's how we calculated CNA staffing: First we added up the productive and temporary hours for nurse assistants (aides and orderlies). Then we divided by the total patient days.

Read more about our methodology.

Credits: Reporter - Christina Jewett
             Data Analyst - Agustin Armendariz
             Producers - Lisa Pickoff-White and Chase Davis