Modesto businessman, savior of rural hospitals, stung by state closure of vocational college

Gurpreet Singh has led an expansion-minded company since a major renovation that opened Central Valley Specialty Hospital on 17th Street in downtown Modesto in 2013.

His company, American Advanced Management Inc., acquired other post-acute care facilities in Modesto, Riverbank, the Bay Area and Texas, absorbed distressed rural medical hospitals in Colusa and Coalinga and this month received initial approval to reopen Madera Community Hospital.

A year ago, Singh was hit with a state order to close Advanced College, a private vocational school with campuses in Salida, Stockton and Southern California that he operated to turn out nurses for AAMI’s growing portfolio of health care facilities.

The state Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education in December 2022 ordered Advanced College to cease enrollment of students and collection of tuition, citing allegations of falsified test results and attendance records, poor management and other violations of the Education Code.

The state bureau charged that students who had not passed the entrance exam were admitted to the vocational nursing program. The disciplinary order cited 15 causes for revoking the college’s approval to operate, effective in February 2023, and cited numerous violations of rules that govern private vocational colleges.

The alleged violations included falsifying test scores and attendance records, violating admission guidelines, failing to provide supplies and textbooks for programs and reporting of false information on graduation rates and job placements.

Singh, who operated the school under a separate business, Jusrand LLC, paid a $2,500 fine for a previous violation of not providing supporting documents for student graduation data and job placements. He was expected to pay the $32,600 cost of the regulatory investigations.

Singh and two associates who ran the private college said Friday that it had genuine compliance issues but most of those resulted from the COVID-19 shutdowns affecting education in 2020 and 2021. A sudden switch from in-person classes to remote learning made it difficult to meet stringent regulations for tracking attendance. The violations did not amount to fraud, they stressed.

Joshua Maruca, chief operating officer for Advanced College, said some allegations of “falsifying documents” were about failure to comply with regulatory minutia.

“We were going from paper to digital with the campus management system,” said Amin Vohra, an Advanced College staff member. “Not just our school but tons of schools across the nation were affected by this.”

According to Singh, they decided to close Advanced College to new admissions well before the state order, after a stream of federal student financial aid ended Dec. 31, 2021. The state order said the U.S. Department of Education discontinued the funding due to regulatory violations.

“The college wasn’t working well for us” in terms of adding nurses to AAMI’s workforce, Singh said. “Our hospitals were too far away and it was not working out.”

Singh said he spent about $3 million making sure that students who lost financial aid completed their programs. Classes continued through July 2022 to allow enrolled students to finish up. Of the remaining students, 56 completed their programs and graduated, 21 transferred to other schools, while 17 dropped out.

Singh said the revelations about the failed vocational college are bad timing as his company works toward reopening the Madera hospital. He stressed the college was completely separate from the AAMI group of healthcare facilities.

“Madera has nothing to do with this,” he said.

He’s determined to rejuvenate rural hospitals

A federal bankruptcy judge this month approved AAMI’s proposal to reopen Madera Community Hospital, which went into bankruptcy last year, owing more than $30 million to creditors. UCSF and Adventist Health also submitted a late combined proposal for the hospital. The hospital reopening still requires additional approvals from the state.

The Modesto businessman said he’s determined to add services and revitalize the rural medical hospitals in places like Colusa and Coalinga, which are vulnerable to today’s healthcare economics. He stressed his company’s abilities were shown in opening the Coalinga hospital in the middle of the pandemic.

“That is unheard-of,” said Singh, an internal medicine doctor who was seeing patients in Colusa on Thursday. “We have a dedicated team. We are running these hospitals very successfully, keeping them from closing, and we are adding services.”

Singh said the reopening plan for the Madera hospital includes new surgical services and a heart catheterization lab. AAMI has pledged to deposit $16 million into escrow for paying creditors if an agreement for managing the Madera hospital goes into effect in March, The Fresno Bee reported.

Advanced College was the second vocational college connected with Singh to operate in the blue and white building on Pirrone Court in Salida. American Specialty College opened in October 2016 with program plans for medical assistants, nursing assistants, vocational nurses and registered nurses. Singh’s company closed it four months later, citing lack of enrollment and dissatisfaction with the model.

Heavy reliance on vocational colleges

A large majority of medical assistants and licensed vocational nurses obtain required education from for-profit vocational colleges, according to a New America blog.

The state regulators criticized Advanced College for not having enough qualified faculty for meaningful interactions with students, not having an adequate laboratory setting and lacking course materials designed by qualified faculty. In short, the state concluded the school didn’t have what it takes to educate students to work in health care.

Lisa Riggs, who formerly directed the Modesto Junior College nursing program, said if vocational colleges don’t maintain standards in educating nurses, it may increase risks for patients. She said it’s reassuring that board exams are a requirement for graduates to earn a license to work in California.

“There was a reason (the health care field) moved away from hospitals starting nursing schools,” Riggs said. “It is not just about quantity, it’s about putting out quality.”

Matt Woodcheke, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, said state law outlines requirements for vocational colleges to refund students under certain circumstances.

Students have a right to request their documents from a shuttered college, as proof they attended and how much they paid toward their education. Students may contact the college to seek a refund of tuition and other expenses. The schools may have a request form for that.

Students affected by a vocational school closure may be eligible for reimbursement from a Student Tuition Recovery Fund. And those with federal student loans may apply to get their loans discharged.

The Office of Student Assistance and Relief is a resource where impacted students can learn about their options, such as transferring units to another college or a teachout program.