Recently, Sun Healthcare Group, Inc., a nationwide nursing home operator, settled criminal and civil complaints relating to the company's Sunbridge Care and Rehabilitation Home in Burlingame, California. As part of the settlement agreement, Sun Healthcare admitted no civil wrongdoing and pleaded no contest to felony charges of elder abuse.

The complaints centered around a June 2000 California heat wave in which two residents of the Sunbridge Care center died, and six others became seriously ill after they developed severe dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. The home was not equipped with an air conditioning system.

Sun Healthcare, based in New Mexico, operates dozens of nursing homes in California and around the country. In a statement, the company said that it "deeply regrets the tragic events."