County of Kern v. Cal. Dept. of Health Services
County of Kern operates the Kern County Medical Center (collectively Kern). Kern challenges the decision of respondent California Department of Health Services (Department) to reduce Kerns Medi-Cal reimbursements by $2,295,367. According to the Department, Kern should have been paid $925 per patient day instead of $1,125 per patient day for services provided to patients in its neonatal intensive care unit when the nurse to patient staffing ratios exceeded 1:1 or 1:2. When Kern pursued an administrative appeal, the Department upheld the legal basis for the reduction by citing Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center v. Bonta′ (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 237 (Sierra Vista). In addition, the Department found that the auditor properly calculated the nurse to patient staffing ratios by using Kerns assignment sheets. On appeal from the denial of its petition for writ of mandate, Kern contends that Sierra Vista was wrongly decided and should not be followed, and that the Departments methodology for calculating the nurse staffing ratios was arbitrary and capricious. Court find no error and affirm.
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