Piner’s Nursing Home, a Napa care facility with roots going back to 1946, quietly changed hands last week for $6.25 million and has been renamed Napa Community Health Center — even as a civil elder-abuse lawsuit alleging that a 78-year-old resident with dementia suffered a fentanyl overdose moves through Napa County Superior Court.
A deal that almost didn’t close
Napa Pueblo LLC agreed in September 2024 to buy the nursing home business and nearby property for $6.25 million. The sale covers 1800 Pueblo Ave., 1820 Pueblo Ave., and 3019 California Blvd. in Napa — addresses that include both Piner’s Nursing Home and Piner’s Guest Home.
The path to closing was rocky. In May, Napa Pueblo’s manager, M. Oliver Rosenberg, filed a lawsuit of his own in Napa County Superior Court against the Piner’s owners, alleging breach of contract. Napa Pueblo claimed the sellers had delayed the deal for months by failing to provide required monthly financial records and other documents, and that they had not properly maintained the nursing home after signing the purchase agreement.
On June 2, Rosenberg said he was “hopeful and confident” the deal would close. It did — 10 days later, the sale was recorded.
New owner and expansion plans
Napa Pueblo LLC is a California-registered limited liability company managed by Rosenberg, who is also chief operating officer of the Downey Community Health Center, a 198-bed skilled nursing and special treatment facility in Downey that includes a 74-bed program for mentally disordered patients.
Rosenberg has wasted no time signaling his intentions for the Pueblo Avenue campus. In March, he filed plans with the city of Napa for a new building along California Boulevard that would add 48 beds for medical, mental health or behavioral health patients. That expansion will require city permits and state regulatory approval before any new beds come online.
“We are optimistic about the future of the skilled nursing facility,” Rosenberg wrote in an email statement, according to the Napa Valley Register, which first reported the sale.
The fentanyl lawsuit
The new owner inherited a facility facing active civil litigation he had no part in creating.
A complaint filed in Napa County Superior Court on May 21 on behalf of Shirley Jo Kilgore — a 78-year-old woman with dementia who has lived at Piner’s since about 2020 — alleges elder abuse, neglect and other violations by Piner’s Nursing Home, Inc. The suit was brought through her guardian ad litem, Daniel P. McQueeney, and is represented by attorney Conor D. Trombetta.
According to the complaint, Kilgore suffered a fentanyl overdose in February after being given fentanyl pain patches for a series of injuries. The allegations have not been proven in court, and no criminal charges have been announced in connection with the complaint.
The Piner family — not the new owner — remains the named defendant. A case-management conference is scheduled for Oct. 30, where the court is expected to set discovery and pretrial milestones.
“This is the first time that we have ever had to deal with something like this in our long history,” Jeremy Piner, the family’s business representative, wrote in an email statement. “There are many facts that will come out during the process of responding to these accusations, but we must do so carefully because of what is at stake.”
Piner called the allegation “an unfortunate way to remember 80 years of caring for our residents” but said he believes the facility’s record will be borne out. “We have earned a very good reputation over our long history with hard work and dedication,” he wrote.
A family stepping back
The sale ends a nearly eight-decade chapter for the Piner family in Napa elder care. Fern and Wendell Piner purchased a Victorian home on Pueblo Avenue in 1946 and opened a board-and-care home that started with 12 patients. In the early 1960s they expanded the operation; after Wendell died in 1964, Fern opened the new nursing home and guest home and ran them until her retirement in 1985, when her son Gary Piner took over.
“We are regrettably leaving a legacy of 80 years behind with the sale,” Jeremy Piner wrote. “We have a great love and compassion for every one of our residents and our staff; many have been with us for decades. The healthcare world has changed so much that we can no longer serve in that field.”
The Piner name will stay in Napa through the family’s other businesses — Piner’s Welding Supply and Piner’s Medical Supply.
What’s next
The facility is now operating under new management as Napa Community Health Center, state licensed records show. The elder-abuse case will advance on its own schedule, with the Oct. 30 conference setting the next round of deadlines. Rosenberg’s expansion plans face a separate track of city and state review before any new beds can open.
The Napa Valley Register first reported the sale and associated litigation. Court records were reviewed via Trellis, a California court-record aggregator. Napa County property records confirmed the June 12 transfer date.