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Photo credit: Adventist Health Mendocino Coast in Fort Bragg, California, by Missvain, Own work, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Adventist Health Sonora has agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by women who say they were sexually abused by a longtime physical therapist while receiving treatment at the California hospital and its outpatient clinics, FierceHealthCare.com reported.
The settlement will be divided among seven women, amounting to about $2.64 million each. An eighth plaintiff who had joined the lawsuit died before the case was resolved.
The lawsuit accused former Adventist Health physical therapist Jason Elias of sexually abusing patients under the guise of legitimate medical care, including during massages and other hands-on treatment.
Lawsuit Alleged Years of Abuse During Physical Therapy
The women said they sought treatment for injuries and chronic pain and were assigned to Elias, who had worked for Adventist Health in Sonora for years.
According to the complaint, Elias allegedly isolated patients in private treatment rooms, instructed some to undress and touched them sexually while presenting the contact as medically necessary. The lawsuit also alleged that he covertly photographed patients while they were exposed on treatment tables.
The alleged misconduct dates back as early as 2007.
Women Said Adventist Employees Received Warnings
The lawsuit did not focus only on Elias.
The women alleged that at least five Adventist Health employees witnessed or received reports about inappropriate conduct but that the system failed to investigate promptly, increase supervision or report the allegations to law enforcement.
That institutional-response issue is central to the case: whether warning signs were available years before Elias was ultimately removed from patient care.
Adventist Health suspended Elias in 2022 after receiving complaints and later opened an internal investigation. The health system says it terminated his employment and reported him to the Physical Therapy Board of California.
Survivors may have legal options when a healthcare provider abuses a position of trust or when an institution fails to respond to warning signs.
Learn more about California sexual abuse claims and survivor rights.
Former Therapist Later Worked at Another Practice
After leaving Adventist Health, Elias later worked at Sonora Physical Therapy.
The complaint alleges that Adventist warned the practice about the reason for his termination, yet Elias was hired there and later allegedly assaulted another plaintiff who had first seen him while he was employed by Adventist.
Elias has since lost his California physical therapy license.
Settlement Highlights Institutional Accountability
The $18.5 million resolution is notable not only because of its size, but because the case centered on alleged abuse occurring in a medical setting where patients had reason to trust that physical contact was part of legitimate treatment.
For survivors, that distinction can make misconduct especially difficult to identify and report.
The case also reflects a recurring issue in medical sexual abuse litigation: whether hospitals and healthcare systems respond quickly enough when multiple patients raise similar concerns about the same provider.
