Laguna Honda recertification remains pending after plans-of-correction; two survey findings on resident falls reported

Roland Pickens, the San Francisco Health Network director and executive sponsor of Laguna Honda recertification, updated the Health Commission on March 19 on the facility's progress toward Medicare recertification and recent regulatory activity.

Pickens said Laguna Honda completed a required reasonable-assurance period for a second Medicare recertification survey; plans of correction were submitted for Fire/Life Safety (January 13) and health-monitoring portions (January dates). The facility remains not yet recertified: CMS and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) must approve submitted plans of correction, return for validation visits and then issue a final determination.

Pickens reported that 22 residents who no longer required skilled nursing care have been discharged since April of last year under a federal directive. He also told commissioners that two recent on-site regulatory visits led to 2567 statements of deficiency related to falls. Laguna Honda has an established falls-investigation process and will submit plans of correction to CDPH (reports filed March 11 with plans due March 21), after which the JCC will review and the Health Commission will be updated.

Pickens announced the hiring of a new director of emergency management for Laguna Honda (named in the meeting as Angela, start date the day before the meeting) who will take over emergency-preparedness duties previously supported by DPH deputy staff.

Public callers and members of the public expressed concern at the meeting about speed, transparency and the sufficiency of oversight. One caller asked whether more drastic governance remedies (such as receivership) should be considered if recertification continues to be delayed. DPH staff emphasized that they have met required submission timelines and said that regulators' review timelines are outside the department's direct control.

Next steps: DPH will submit the facility's plans of correction to CDPH as scheduled, the JCC will review detailed fall-investigation reports, and the Health Commission will be updated after CDPH/CMS validation.