US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra toured the Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, the nation’s largest publicly operated nursing home on Friday, telling residents to “stay tuned” as they pleaded with him to keep the troubled facility open.
Laguna Honda is fighting for Medicare recertification, bragging in an executive report that it “successfully submitted all 126 milestones” due in January to a quality improvement expert.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services stripped Laguna Honda of its operating certificate last April, six months after state inspectors reported substandard care. The 769-bed nursing home was ordered to move residents out by Sep. 13, 2022, but that was followed by public outcry after several vulnerable residents died after being transferred.
A legal agreement in the wake of those deaths between San Francisco officials and federal regulators created a lengthy and detailed path for the home to resume admissions.
The executive report provided to McKnights Long Term Care News on Monday noted that CMS will continue paying for care until Nov. 13, 2023. The agency also agreed to a continued pause on “involuntary discharges and transfers” until at least May 19 — an extension from the original Feb. 2 deadline.”
The legal settlement required Laguna Honda to hire a quality improvement expert to whom the facility must submit reports. Health Services Advisory Group is filling that role, and, as part of the agreement, analyzed the root causes of the facility’s challenges, which is pending CMS comments.
Some of the recently achieved goals include new staff training, the creation of a standardized tool to evaluate care plans, a schedule for emergency response drills, and job postings for key leadership roles, including an administrator to serve as the top executive for the facility.
All of the items in the action plan, which number in the hundreds, must be implemented by May 13. A Laguna Honda spokeswoman said it continues providing “quality healthcare” to the remaining residents as leaders work toward recertification.
The facility was able to transfer just 57 individuals due to a lack of local skilled nursing facilities that can treat complex medical conditions and also accept the state’s version of Medicaid, according to local media. McKnights reported that four residents died during or after transfer.
Laguna Honda’s “policies and practices have become out of sync with high-performing skilled
nursing homes, and we often operated more like an acute care hospital,” the executive report stated. Local media reports indicate the facility had major issues with infection control and coordination among caregivers.
