SAN FRANCISCO—The Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center was approved by state regulators on Wednesday, August 16, for Medicaid recertification. This approval comes after the hospital was threatened with closure. San Francisco city officials fought to keep the facility open, and the news of recertification is celebrated by those very officials who fought for the century-plus old building.
According to Mayor London Breed’s office, more than 95 percent of Laguna Honda’s patients rely on Medicaid funding and that the hospital represents more than 30 percent of all skilled nursing beds in the city.
Medicaid is a federal program to provide free or low-cost health coverage to low-income people that is administered in the state as Medi-Cal.
A San Francisco resident by the name of Joseph Urban posted on Facebook August 16:
“Friends,
Today we learned that the California Department of Public Health has accepted Laguna Honda Hospital’s application for recertification! This means that the current residents of LHH will no longer be threatened with forced relocation.
Our efforts were successful!
Your support kept the government from forcing 500 people to find a new skilled nursing facility to call home. We knew this pressure couldn’t last forever, but it only needed to last until recertification.
Today is that day!
Thank you for your voice and support on this journey. We did it!”
Back in April 2022, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services terminated Laguna Honda’s participation in Medicare and Medicaid provider programs, threatening the closure of the hospital after providing the community with services for more than 150 years.
In an agreement that was negotiated by the City Attorney’s Office, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to continue paying for the care of residents at the LHH if the hospital demonstrated the ability to meet all regulatory requirements and make rapid improvements including operational, institutional, and cultural changes needed for long-term success of the hospital.
The facility has since made the necessary improvements to resident care and safety and the significant changes to meet the rigorous regulatory requirements and timelines set by CMS. Since staff made these enhancements, they reapplied for the Medicaid Provider Program on August 11.
“This is tremendous news for the Laguna Honda Hospital community and the residents and families who rely on this critical facility,” said Mayor London Breed. “While this has been a challenging situation to navigate, I always believed that San Francisco would do what it takes to save Laguna Honda. I want to thank the Department of Public Health and all the staff at Laguna Honda for working with regulators and meeting the critical objectives set out to keep this hospital open. I also want to thank Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and all the City and State leaders who have advocated for the hospital over the last year and a half. Finally, I want to thank our state and federal partners for working with us to preserve one of our City’s most important public health institutions and one of the largest facilities of its kind in the country. Laguna Honda is a treasured part of San Francisco and I’m so happy that it will remain so for years to come.”
Back in 2019, an investigation was launched that uncovered evidence that 23 patients at Laguna Honda Hospital were mistreated. The actions included taking photos and videos without consent and giving patients’ medication without prescriptions, according to the city’s Department of Health.
In February 2019, allegations of abuse surfaced and included verbal and physical abuse, sexualized conversations, neglect, and failure to report violations. The investigation found a pattern of staff members administering unprescribed medication to residents in an attempt to sedate them.
Mayor London Breed’s mother had been treated at LHH for years before she died in 2016. Breed stated that the staff was always dedicated and respectful.
