San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center resumed admissions Thursday, welcoming former citizens who had been displaced after the nursing facility was decertified two years ago.
According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Laguna Honda has become fully qualified again through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services after “a successful two-year improvement process. “
The hospital began moving patients after federal and state regulators cited protective considerations and required the facility to move all 700 patients in 2022, while also meeting its agreements with Medicare and Medicaid providers.
The concerns cited stem from the use of drug apparatus on the premises, the lack of infection prevention and control, and the omission of medication doses.
The center also experienced an abuse scandal involving some patients who allegedly suffered verbal, mental, sexual and physical abuse over several years, leading to a lawsuit.
A 2019 investigation through the California Department of Public Health, which led to the lawsuit, found that six former nurses allegedly abused 23 patients by drugging some, taking nude photographs of others and sending photographs via text message to other members. and even gagging a victim. with a towel.
The state’s fitness branch decided that the facility did not protect citizens from abuse and invasion of privacy, and that such moves risked causing embarrassment and emotional misery for patients.
Last year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to settle for $2. 2 million with former patients.
The mayor and city officials praised the progress made in recertifying and resuming operations of the skilled nursing facility.
“We have fought tirelessly over the long term for Laguna Honda to ensure that the care and facilities provided through this beloved facility are once again available to our most vulnerable residents,” London Mayor Breed said in a statement released by the Department. of Health.
Last year, the California Department of Public Health and the state Department of Health Services approved Laguna Honda’s recertification for Medicaid, the federal program to provide flexible or affordable physical care policies to low-income people, administered in the status as Medi. – Cal. In June of this year, the hospital recertified for Medicare.
Patients who were displaced after the hospital lost certification are being invited to return, the city said, and on Thursday “several chose to return,” the fitness arm said in a statement.