By Teresa Palmer, MD – Geriatrics/Family Practice
(Attending Physician at Laguna Honda 1989-2004)
Despite Mayor Breed’s relieved announcement in mid August that Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH), closed to new admissions since April of 2022, has been recertified by Medi-Cal, many questions are NOT being answered. We need to continue to ask these questions about our public nursing home:
1.When will new admissions resume?
2.Will patients evicted in 2022 (who survived) be readmitted?
(Nothing in writing yet). In addition, nursing home eligible San Francisco residents who have had to leave the county for care should have priority at Laguna Honda-but they do not.
3.Will LHH continue to admit and mismanage complex and acutely behaviorally unstable residents from ZSFG (San Francisco General Hospital)?
This puts the getting patients out of ZSFG over the well being of everyone else including ZSFG patients who are inappropriately placed in this nursing home....and will get LHH in trouble again.
4. A 120 bed cut is still on the table due to an irrelevant new federal regulation. San Franciscans need these beds. Where is the application for a waiver?
This 780 plus bed facility now has less than 500 residents, and there are many outside waiting for a bed… folks in great need who have been sent out of county or who are waiting at home.
Upcoming meetings:
1. Laguna Honda Joint Conference Committee (subcommittee of the Health Commission Meets at 4 pm on Tues Sept 12.) Agenda and Supporting Documents will be published here Sept 8 and we will provide updated analysis by Sept 9:
https://sf.gov/departments/san-francisco-health-commission
2. Full Board of Supervisors will meet about LHH on Sept. 26 after 2 pm. LHH is File # 230035 -Hearing - Sept/ 26 2023-SFBOS-Committee of the Whole - Laguna Honda Hospital’s Strategy for Recertification and the Submission of a Closure and Patient Transfer and Relocation Plan
Background information:
Evictions of Nursing Home eligible residents is unlikely-The previously scheduled Sept. 19, 2023 eviction of nursing home eligible residents is now unlikely if residents know their rights. (Despite statements in the press, we have found nothing formally announcing a halt to Sept 19 2023 CMS (federal) required eviction and closure procedure.) However, the only reason for eviction of a nursing home eligible resident that could survive a formal appeal by that resident (failure to pay) has been abolished since Medi-Cal payments are back on.
Laguna Honda has permission to discharge people who do not qualify or are inappropriate for skilled nursing home services--but there are insufficient services and housing for timely and safe discharges. This points to an ongoing grave lack of services in San Francisco. This violates the health and safety of residents who need a different environment, and also (when admissions resume), the health and safety of people who are waiting for a Laguna Honda bed.
Local officials, State Officials and Federal Government Officials STILL need to hear from San Franciscans that Laguna Honda must be saved with all beds intact, and we need admissions to restart.
Efforts to educate LHH residents, families and advocates as to their right to refuse inappropriate or unsafe discharge must continue.
For more information, the SF Gray Panthers keep this website updated:
https://panther-gray.web.app/child/laguna-honda-hospital:-call-to-action-
Teresa Palmer M.D. former Laguna Honda Physician
Board member SF Gray Panthers
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