Quick answer: A serious bedsore (stage 3 or 4) in a Kern County nursing home can support a claim under California's Elder Abuse Act, because federal rules (42 CFR 483.25) treat advanced pressure ulcers as preventable unless a documented medical condition made them unavoidable. Request the wound care and repositioning records and check the home's CMS inspection rating, then have a lawyer review it for free at (888) 999-0169 or send us a message. Kern County has one of the weakest nursing home landscapes in California. Of its 17 skilled nursing facilities, 13 carry an overall CMS rating of just one or two stars, and 16 of the 17 have fines on record. In an environment that thin, a serious pressure ulcer is a predictable result of understaffing and skipped repositioning, not bad luck.
If your loved one developed a bedsore in a Bakersfield, Arvin, or Delano nursing home, you may have a claim under California's Elder Abuse Act. Call (888) 999-0169 for a free, confidential consultation. We are former defense attorneys who now hold these facilities accountable, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Nursing home records in Kern County
Kern County has 17 federally certified nursing facilities with 1,755 licensed beds. Since 1997, state inspectors have issued 304 citations against Kern County facilities, including 2 class AA citations and 68 class A citations. Facilities in the county have been assessed $2,118,825 in state penalties over that period.
A class AA citation is a class A violation that the Department of Public Health determined was a direct proximate cause of a resident's death. A class A citation is a violation the Department determined presented an imminent danger of death or serious harm to residents, or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result.
15 of those enforcement actions were connected to a resident's death.
2 Kern County facilities currently carry the federal abuse warning icon.
The county's facilities average 1.8 of 5 stars on the federal rating system. 13 of 17 facilities hold a 1 or 2 star overall rating.
Kern County facilities have been assessed $741,793 in federal fines.
The most cited nursing homes in Kern County
- The Rehabilitation Center of Bakersfield (42 citations)
- Height Street Skilled Care (31 citations)
- Valley Healthcare Center (23 citations)
See every facility in the county, with its full record, in the nursing home directory.
Citation data covers July 1, 1997 through June 30, 2024. Ratings and fines are current as of the CMS processing date shown above.
What the record shows in Kern County
A bedsore is a repositioning failure, and repositioning fails where staffing is thinnest.
In the CMS data, these are the homes in the county reporting the fewest nursing hours per resident. In Lake Isabella, Kern Valley Healthcare District DP SNF reports 3.38 nursing hours per resident per day, where the state average is 4.52, with a 2 star overall rating and a 2 star health inspection rating. It carries a 1 star staffing rating and $31,581 in federal fines across 2 federal penalties as well. In Arvin, Arvin Post Acute reports 3.73 nursing hours per resident per day, where the state average is 4.52, with a 1 star overall rating and a 2 star health inspection rating. It carries a 1 star staffing rating and $62,968 in federal fines across 2 federal penalties as well. Staffing at Valley Healthcare Center in Bakersfield is 3.78 nursing hours per resident per day against 4.52 statewide, with a 1 star overall rating and a 1 star health inspection rating. Its record also shows a 3 star staffing rating and $91,195 in federal fines across 2 federal penalties. Countywide, 13 of 17 homes hold a 1 or 2 star overall rating.
Kern County has 17 skilled nursing facilities, and countywide federal fines total $741,793.
Before you accept a facility's explanation for a bedsore, check its record in our Kern County nursing home directory. Left untreated, a stage 4 ulcer can reach the bone and become a fatal infection. For the four stages and the California statutes, see our California bedsore page.
How Kern County families can respond
Photograph the wound and date the photos, and request the complete chart in writing, including wound care notes and repositioning logs. Get an independent medical evaluation. File a complaint with the California Department of Public Health through Cal Health Find, or contact the Kern County Long-Term Care Ombudsman at (661) 323-7884, or the state crisis line at (800) 231-4024 after hours. In an emergency, contact Kern County Adult Protective Services or call 911. Our full guide is here: how to report nursing home abuse in California.
If something about the care your loved one received does not sit right, let us take a look. Call (888) 999-0169 for a free consultation.
Why work with us
Michael Young and Thomas Wallin spent years defending nursing homes before switching sides. Their record includes millions of dollars recovered on behalf of abused and neglected residents. We go straight for the repositioning logs and the payroll-based staffing records, because the gap between "turned every two hours" in the chart and the aides actually working that shift is where these cases are won. As Kern County nursing home abuse lawyers, we handle these cases across Bakersfield and the county and throughout California.
Talk to a Kern County bedsore lawyer today
Wound photos and repositioning logs get harder to obtain every week. Call (888) 999-0169 or send us a message for a free case evaluation. We take cases throughout Kern County and across California, and there is no fee unless we win.
Sources and authoritative references
- CMS Care Compare, the federal nursing home rating and inspection database: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
- California Department of Public Health, Cal Health Find, to look up a facility or file a complaint: https://calhealthfind.cdph.ca.gov/
- California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Welfare and Institutions Code section 15600: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC§ionNum=15600.
- Federal quality-of-care and pressure-ulcer standard, 42 CFR 483.25: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/part-483/section-483.25
Frequently asked questions
Are bedsores common at Kern County nursing homes?
Kern County has an unusually high share of low-rated homes, 13 of 17 at one or two stars, and low staffing is the strongest predictor of pressure ulcers. That does not make every bedsore neglect, but at a low-rated, understaffed home the "unavoidable" defense rarely survives a look at the records.
How do I check a Bakersfield nursing home before choosing one?
Use our Kern County nursing home directory. It lists each home's staffing against the state average, plus ratings, citations, and any fines, all from public CMS data.
What should I do first if my parent has a stage 4 bedsore?
Photograph the wound, request the complete chart in writing, and get an independent medical evaluation. Then talk to a lawyer before accepting the facility's explanation, because the version families are given rarely matches the records.
How many nursing homes are in Kern County?
Kern County has 17 federally certified nursing facilities with 1,755 licensed beds. Every one of them is listed in our Kern County nursing home directory with its ratings, staffing, citations and fines.
Do Kern County nursing homes have citations for bedsores and pressure ulcers?
State inspectors have issued 304 citations against Kern County nursing homes since 1997, across the full range of care failures rather than any single one. We do not publish a citation count by injury type, because the state does not categorize them that way. Check the specific home's own record instead. Every one of them is listed in our Kern County nursing home directory with its ratings, staffing, citations and fines.
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Disclaimer: facility ratings, staffing figures, and fines above are drawn from public CMS data (medicare.gov) as of the August 2026 processing date and are reported as published. They may not reflect the most current findings, and inclusion of any facility is not an allegation of wrongdoing. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case. This page is attorney advertising and not legal advice.