www.montereycountynow.com FEBRUARY 6-12, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 lawsuit for $2.5 million in the case of an 88-year-old woman who died after her stay there. The attending surgeon at the hospital where she died called it a case of “clear reckless neglect” in his deposition. (Pacifica Senior Living management was contacted and asked to comment for this story. They did not respond.) The senior population expected to grow over the next 45 years—the California Department of Finance projects that the number of people aged 65 and up in Monterey County, now just over 15 percent, will be 25 percent of the population by 2070. That fact is not lost on corporations and investors, who are jumping into the market to cash in on the senior wave. For many seniors and their families, the options are limited, especially as more nonprofit and religious-based facilities are bought out by corporations and private equity firms. Nonprofit senior facilities tend to have better safety and care records than many for-profit facilities. One in Monterey County, Carmel Valley Manor, stands as an example of a wellrun community for those that can afford it. “For-profits, they’re out to squeeze every penny they can out of it for their investors and the human factor is going to twist in the wind,” says one P.G. Senior Living resident. (Residents asked to not be identified out of fear of retaliation.) “The hard cold fact of it is that’s the way it’s coming for senior living across the country,” the resident says. “More and more are being taken over by for-profits, and seniors are getting hurt as a result of it.” Real estate investment was the main goal when Pacifica Companies was founded in 1978. Over the years, the San Diego-based company has compiled a large list of investment properties and hotels in the U.S., India and Mexico. Last year it broke ground in Chula Vista on a project encompassing 1,500 condominiums, a 250-room hotel and 400,000 square feet of commercial space. Somewhere around 2006, company leaders saw a golden opportunity in the growing senior living marketplace and formed Pacifica Senior Living Management as well as other LLCs for a growing list of acquired senior assisted living facilities that total over 80 in seven states. (The long background in hotels may hold the explanation for why Pacifica Senior Living management renovated the P.G. location common areas more like a hotel than for an accessible and safe facility for seniors. The third-party monitor noted in his report how dangerous the new, slick floors were. In addition, they create echoes that make it hard for senior residents to hear others, creating isolation. “When they came in, they pulled up all the carpeting and all the furniture. Everything is plastic. The floors are plastic, furniture, everything,” one PGSL resident says.) Deepak Israni, nephew to company founder Ash Israni, confirmed in a deposition in December 2023 that “the demographics were strong to justify us investing in that sector.” “What is the purpose of that business?” attorney Lukas Pick asked Israni during the deposition. “It’s to manage senior living assets,” Israni replied. Asked if he had any health care training, Israni’s answer was “no.” Later when asked, he said he thought maybe a few others in the company did. The lobby of P.G. Senior Living was renovated after Pacifica Senior Living purchased the property. The company ripped out carpeting, creating a potential slipping danger for seniors, and residents say echoes make it difficult to hear. In a report by the residents association in January 2024, they noted major infrastructure repairs were going unaddressed “while superficial decor is changed in ways that defy common sense.” Nita Pettigrew (far left), vice president of the residents association, president Diana Northrop (center) , and Joanne Kelly, their neighbor, inside Northrop’s apartment. The association has been advocating for owner Pacifica Senior Living to fix persisting issues. Kelly’s apartment is in a newer portion of P.G. Senior Living, facing south, so she gets afternoon sun. From left: Northrup, Kelly and Alliance on Aging Ombudsman Joanne Getas chat in the P.G. Senior Living dining room.
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