Los Banos memory care center will close within weeks, sends eviction notices to residents

Valley Spring Memory Care, a 50-bed senior care facility licensed since early 2022 in the Merced County community of Los Banos. will shut its doors by late October or early November, displacing more than 20 residents who now must find new places to live and receive care.

Officials with the California Department of Social Services confirmed that on Sept. 4, the department received a 60-day notice of intent to close from the company. Copies of the notice were sent on Sept. 8 to authorized representatives – family members, court-appointed conservators or legal representatives – of all of the center’s residents.

The Department of Social Services “is working with the licensee to ensure proper transition of all residents,” the agency said in an email to the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.

Reports from state inspectors indicate that the center has averaged about 24 residents this year through July, the most recent inspection report available.

Neither representatives from Valley Spring Memory Care nor Valley Springs of Los Banos LLC have responded to phone messages seeking comment about their plans for the facility. Those representatives include Tim Hazen, the site’s managing director, and Brett Charles Staples of Pacific Grove, who according to state business records is the CEO of Valley Springs of Los Banos LLC.

The facility’s executive director, Elizabeth Reynaga, declined to comment when contacted about the pending closure, deferring instead to Hazen and pledging to pass along a reporter’s contact information. Reynaga did not return subsequent calls to the facility.

A staff member who answered the telephone at Valley Spring on Oct. 1 said the facility was still open.

From its opening in early 2022 through 2024, Valley Spring had received no citations from licensing evaluators with the Fresno office of the state’s Community Care Licensing Division. Numerous complaints were investigated, but all were deemed unfounded or unsubstantiated.

The facility was cited twice in 2025 for violations of state regulations:

• A Type A citation was issued May 2025 after a medication technician gave a patient the wrong medication, a violation of the state’s Health and Safety Code for which the staff member was placed on administrative leave and ultimately terminated.
• Another Type A citation was issued in June 2025 after an accusation that a staff member spoke inappropriately to a patient, a violation of the California Code of Regulations regarding patient rights. A complaint investigation report indicated that there were witnesses to the incident and the staff member admitted to swearing. The staffer was placed on probation and provided retraining on patient rights, abuse prevention, proper care of patients diagnosed with dementia, behavioral expectations and professional standards.

A Type A citation “is for the most serious type of violations in which there is an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of those in care,” according to the licensing division. 

A less serious Type B citation reflects violations “that, if not corrected, may [be] an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of clients.”

Investigation and inspection reports from the Community Care Licensing Division show that the number of citations for Valley Spring soared over the first seven months of 2026 to a total of 13, including six Type A violations and seven Type B violations.

The citations were:

• Feb. 13: Type A violation – Medication errors including under- and overcounts of various medications to be administered to patients, for which the facility was to complete refresher training for all of its medication technicians by Feb. 14.
• March 5: Type B violation – No medication technician was on duty for about four hours one morning in early January, and only one caregiver was on duty in each of two areas of the facility. 
• March 5: Type A violation – A lapse in a patient’s medication due to the patient’s medical coverage changing. The lapse caused the patient’s blood pressure to rise, resulting in a trip to a hospital emergency room.
• March 5: Type B violation – No required signs posted for oxygen in use in the facility. Interviews indicated that there were never any such signs posted.
• March 5: Type B violation – The facility did not follow reporting requirements by failing to report a patient’s fall to state officials.
• March 27: Type B violation – Valley Spring did not comply with requirements to maintain a quarterly disaster drill log.
• April 23: Type B violation – Staff spoke inappropriately in front of residents. Multiple interviews indicated previous incidents where staff argued with each other in front of residents.
• April 23: Type B violation – Multiple interviews revealed on more than one occasion part of the food had been burned and residents refused to eat the burned food.
• May 1: Type A violation – An investigation showed that a patient had a fall in July 2025 that resulted in a hip fracture. The fall happened at about 5 p.m. and the resident was in pain, but 911 was not called until the next morning, and the patient was not sent to a hospital until 8 a.m. the following morning.
• May 1: Three separate Type A violations – Interviews, observations and records showed that (1) staff were overheard speaking inappropriate to residents; (2) staff incorrectly administered medications by leaving medications in residents drinks, or medications were found on the floor or in the trash; and (3) residents’ incontinence needs were not met in a timely manner as residents were “routinely soaked in urine, with saturated briefs, in wet and soiled bedding.”
• July 24: Type B violation – A review of one resident’s progress notes found that on June 6, medication was not given because it was not available; the incident was not reported to the state as required.

State health officials said in the email that “the department continues to investigate complaint allegations and cannot offer additional comments at this time.” As of Oct. 5, the facility remains licensed to operate.

According to state licensing data, Valley Spring is the second-largest of five residential care facilities for seniors in Los Banos. The largest is the nonprofit New Bethany Residential Care, operated by the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, which has a capacity of 76 residents. None of the other three are licensed for more than six people. New Bethany was licensed in 1999.

A staff member at New Bethany said that facility’s administrator visited with families at Valley Spring to provide assistance in relocating residents if needed.

As of July, state evaluation reports indicated that New Bethany had 37 of its 76 beds filled, which would leave sufficient remaining capacity to handle the displaced Valley Spring residents.

Tim Sheehan is a senior reporter and Health Reporting Fellow with the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. The CVJC fellowship is supported by a grant from the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust. Contact Sheehan at tim@cvlocaljournalism.org.