State: North Las Vegas group home operating illegally

By Steve Green

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 | 4:27 p.m.

State regulators are asking a court to take action against the operator of a group home they say has been operating illegally in North Las Vegas.

The Nevada State Health Division on Jan. 9 sued the home operator, Nestor Bagasan, after inspectors checked the home on about Nov. 19 and determined it was operating without the proper license.

Bagasan could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In papers filed in Clark County District Court, state health facility surveyor Carol Eastburg said she visited the Triple Cord Care Home, which was licensed as a home for individual residential care. That means the home was licensed to provide care for two people and was required to meet only minimal standards.

The lawsuit was filed because she found four patients living there.

"Bagasan was providing food, shelter, assistance and limited supervision for at least three persons and therefore he was operating an unlicensed residential facility for groups," Eastburg said in an affidavit.

The home is at 6636 Lavender Lion Street, near Losee Road and Centennial Parkway.

Residents at the home ranged in age from 58 to 72 and paid from $500 to $2,000 per month for shelter, food, limited supervision and administration of medication, the affidavit said.

"I do not believe that Nestor Bagasan will comply with the law without an order of this court," Eastburg said in the affidavit.

It was unclear Thursday whether the four patients Eastburg saw in November are still at the home.

"It is not a licensed home; therefore, if it has residents, it does not have them legally. It is also why we are seeking the injunction so the court can take appropriate action. The bureau staff did not initiate processes to move the residents. The same residents could be there or there could be a new set of residents,’’ said Marla McDade Williams, chief of the Health Division’s Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Linda Anderson, who filed the suit for the Health Division, said the division does not have any specific authority or process to move residents in this situation.

"We can contact family members so they can move loved ones or we can look to social services if the circumstances are hazardous to a resident. In this case, the Division for Aging Services/Elder Protective Services was also involved due to allegations about yet another resident (who had been moved to another group home by his wife at the time of the investigation)," Anderson said.

The suit seeks an injunction barring Bagasan from operating unlicensed facilities, a fine of up to $10,000 and a requirement that he pay the cost of transferring the residents to alternative placements.

Steve Green can be reached at 990-7714 or [email protected].