‘They Just Dumped Him Like Trash’: Nursing Homes Evict Vulnerable Residents

This month, Silvercrest issued the third eviction notice. Mr. Hightower’s appeal is pending.

“They just want to get rid of me,” he said.

Michael Tretola, the president of Silvercrest, declined to comment on Mr. Hightower’s case or to say how many residents have been evicted. “The health and safety of every patient under our care is always our first concern,” he said.

Lakeview Terrace in Los Angeles, which evicted the 88-year-old Mr. Kendrick, has a history of illegally ousting residents. In February 2019, the Los Angeles city attorney, Mike Feuer, reached a $600,000 settlement with the nursing home to resolve accusations that it had illegally evicted mentally ill and homeless residents. As part of that settlement, in which Lakeview denied wrongdoing, prosecutors appointed someone to monitor the facility. As the coronavirus intensified in March, the monitor had to stop visiting.

Around this time, said three Lakeview employees, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly, their superiors began encouraging them to find ways to discharge residents to make room for coronavirus patients.

On April 6, the staff moved Mr. Kendrick to an unlicensed boardinghouse in Van Nuys, Calif., about 20 miles away.

The next day, the police called Mr. Kendrick’s nephew, Darryl Kennedy. They had found his uncle, who had wandered away from the boardinghouse, Mr. Kennedy said.

“They just dumped him like trash,” Mr. Kennedy said.

David Weaver, the administrator of Lakeview Terrace, wouldn’t say why Mr. Kendrick was evicted, citing confidentiality, but he said all of the nursing home’s discharges were “clinically appropriate.”