The California Department of Public Health has repealed efforts to suspend licenses for Hollywood nursing homes, which have been found to have led to the deaths of two patients in recent years.
Briar Oak in Sunset was one of seven Los Angeles County facilities last month that the state was notified to be in motion to suspend its licenses.
At the time, the state believed all seven companies had received at least two “AA” violations over the past two years, a public health department spokesperson said.
AA violations are relatively rare penalties issued for errors that contribute significantly to the death of residents. California law allows the nursing home license to be suspended or revoked if a facility obtains two violations within 24 months.
Brier Oak received an AA violation notice 22 months away, but the deaths of residents occurred about 26 months away, state records show.
“We recently determined that Briar Oak’s notice was based on the date of the issue of citation, not the date of the incident that caused the citation,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement. “Therefore, this suspension notification has been cancelled.”
Brier Oak from Sunset did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A state investigation found that staff supervision at Briar Oak killed two residents in 2022 and 2024.
The patient died in August after a nurse rolled down a bed while caring for another patient, the state said in a citation report.
In May 2022, the patient died about 50 hours after being admitted to Briar Oak. The investigation determined that staff had failed to administer important medications, the state said.
In a phone interview in September 2022, the patient’s family told state investigators that “resident 1″ had not taken the medication for two days. [from admission] And the staff let her die,” the state wrote in the report. The family continued. “She didn’t deserve to die.”
The patient’s family was awarded a $1.29 million arbitration this month after a judge determined that the facility was severely understaffed upon arrival and that she should not have been admitted.
“The respondents’ facilities acted recklessly in that they knew their actions were very likely to cause harm, and intentionally ignored this risk,” Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green wrote in the interim arbitration award.
The licensing suspension efforts are still underway for the Antelope Valley Care Center in Lancaster, the Ararato Nursing Facility in Mission Hills, the Golden Haven Care Center in Glendale, the Cai Ilo San Angeles Healthcare Center in Lincoln Park, the Convalescent Hospital in Santa Anita, and the Seacrest Post Cute Care Center in San Pedro.
Ararat’s lawyer said the suspension was “unjust” and appealing. Other establishments did not respond to requests for comment.
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