Patients and their families at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center are concerned amid recertification efforts as the threat of displacement looms. “The big issue is how the patients are being treated in this whole process. That’s the worry.'
But a growing number of experts in nursing home regulations are equally perplexed by the situation in which up to 700 medically fragile patients are threatened with displacement.
“There is no precedent here. Some nursing homes have closed, but they are basically hell holes of horror and residents were treated awfully,” he said. “There are many candidates for decertification in California and we’re still puzzled why Laguna Honda was one of this.” In May, Laguna Honda sent all patients a notice about potential hospital closure and the need for patients to relocate. The letter outlined the Closure and Patient Transfer and Relocation Plan, which stated the facility could close as early as September. Fulfilling the plan while simultaneously working to recertify the hospital was required in order for Laguna Honda to receive a four-month extension of federal funding, with a possibility of another two-month extension.
Since May 16, staff at the hospital tasked with finding those alternative beds have made thousands of calls to nursing facilities. It’s clear, however, that alternative local options are nearly nonexistent, and the majority of patients would have to travel out of the county and away from their San Francisco connections if the plan is realized.
One patient has been discharged so far. That patient was discharged back home, which Pickens described as “a good outcome.”