When drug rehab facilities don’t employ enough staff members, it places patients at extreme risk when they are at their most vulnerable.

A California treatment center with too few employees can leave patients waiting for help after a fall or after an overdose. It may take longer for the staff on hand to call 911 and administer life-saving medication. These and other delays can leave patients in danger of serious injury and the loss of life.

These and other acts of negligence leave facility owners liable for the consequences. Families can seek support on behalf of patients to pay all recovery costs and to refund facility charges.

Staffing Ratios and Rehab Patient Safety

California doesn’t have firm staffing requirements that apply to all rehab facilities. The requirements depend on several factors:

• The level of care the facility provides (Level of care is defined by the California Department of Health Care Services, DHCS)
• The number of patients the facility is treating
• The time of day (day or overnight)
• Healthcare standards
• The staffing levels facility owners promise to family members before admission of a loved one

Healthcare standards for California’s Medi-Cal drug treatment centers will begin with the requirement of a licensed physician as medical director. Facilities will also need a clinic director, and at least one substance abuse professional. A nurse or some other approved person who can administer medication must also be on duty.

Basically, facilities must have staff qualified to provide the services they offer and sufficient staffing to deliver proper care and supervision.

Staffing Ratios at Drug Rehab Facilities at Night

The California Code of Regulations (CCR) explains the bare minimum of staffing for most facilities. It also mandates the minimum staffing and monitoring at night.

Nighttime drug rehab staffing can be especially important. It may be a time when patients are often sleeping, but there’s also more risk of unnoticed health issues.

Staff can be reduced, but more attention is needed during bed checks to make sure patients are sleeping and not in medical distress, perhaps unconscious instead.

CCR Title 9, § 531

“(2) Scheduling of staff which provides for at least two (2) staff members to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven (7) days per week. If program design results in some clients not being in the facility during specific hours of the day, scheduling adjustments may be made so that coverage is consistent with and related to the number and needs of clients in the facility. During the nighttime hours, when clients are sleeping, only one of the two on-duty staff members need be awake, providing the program does not accept admissions at that time. There shall be a staffing ratio of at least one (1) full-time equivalent direct service staff for each 1.6 clients served.”

Facilities are also required to have emergency plans in place when there are problems in the overnight hours.

Corporate owners of rehab facilities may seek to protect their profits by cutting staff and payroll, but they are still responsible for the security of patients. When a patient dies because there was no one around to help them, families could seek justice and support through a wrongful death claim.

See: Teen / adolescent treatment center death (heightened supervision duty)

The Hazards of Understaffing

These are just a few of the ways understaffing can put your loved one at extreme risk:

• Your loved one suffers a fall or respiratory issues and must wait for care
• A delay in finding your loved one after a self-harming incident
• Your loved one overdoses and goes 15 mins or more without being discovered
• Your loved one is able to obtain drugs because security staffing wasn’t sufficient
• Your loved one waits too long for an ambulance because 911 isn’t contacted quickly enough
• NARCAN (the brand name for Naloxone) isn’t administered quickly enough to your loved one
• Incidents of abuse going unmonitored and undiscovered (e.g., abuse from patients or staff)
• Your loved one doesn’t receive all of the medication they require
• Less personalized counseling for your loved one

Fortunately, families in search of a rehab clinic can check on a facility’s records. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) monitors staffing levels at facilities and can perform unannounced inspections. Families can check the licensing records at facilities and see what centers have been cited for understaffing.

Support Available For Drug Rehab Injury Patients

Injured Patients: Patients can demand support for every medical bill for as long as care is needed. Support for their pain and the emotional toll an injury in a facility takes. Support for the income they lose while unable to work. Support for much more.

Families After a Wrongful Death: Families who lose a loved one can seek support for the cost of burial and for any leftover medical bills. They can ask for help in the future when a loved one’s income will no longer be able to contribute to the support of the family. The loss of companionship and care must also factor in.

Punitive Damages: Punitive damages are awarded by judges and juries to add extra punishment for grossly negligent health network owners and operators. These are penalties assigned in cases where owners have shown particular disregard for the safety of patients. They aren’t awarded in every case, but victims do get to keep any fines paid. Corporate owners who put their profits over the patient’s well-being by cutting staff to dangerous levels are prime candidates for punitive damages.

Contact Us If Your Loved One Got Hurt in a Drug Rehab.

Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to families who have a loved one get hurt or die at a California rehab facility.

We can assist families in securing support, even if a facility has since closed down.

Call us today or fill out a free case review form.