City to pay $5.8M in class action over elder abuse at Laguna Honda

by Kimberly Marselas

Months after it secured a Five-Star rating and was widely celebrated for completing its rebound from Medicare decertification, San Francisco’s largest nursing home continues to pay the price for safety and privacy lapses that predated the pandemic. 

The city and its Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center were set to settle a lawsuit over explicit photos of patients for $5.8 million, if a legal agreement was blessed by a city oversight committee Thursday night.

The settlement conditions were reported by San Francisco’s PBS television station Thursday morning. The lawsuit is one of several connected to an alleged patient abuse scandal at Laguna Honda, which has a long history of caring for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, including seniors, the homeless and those with behavioral health needs and substance abuse issues.

It was rocked by scandal and allegations of unacceptable care between 2016 and 2021, when two patients experienced non-fatal overdoses. That triggered intervention by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which revoked Medicare coverage for stays and moved to shutdown the massive facility.

But after four patients died following transfers, CMS relented. The facility accepted significant federal oversight and intervention. During that time, city and building leaders acknowledged major shortfalls in previous years and developed a 960-point recovery plan. The building earned its certification back earlier this year.

The expected settlement is the latest accounting for Laguna Honda, which the senior advocacy group Gray Panthers said will have paid out $12 million in settlements. In this case, the $5.8 million will be distributed among 735 current and former patients, PBS reported.

The lawsuit had alleged that staff took explicit photos of multiple patients and disseminated them, and accused the facility of other abuse and privacy violations. 

The accusations reflect a national concern: Humiliating and demeaning social media posts made by nursing home staff without patient permission were the subject of a recent report calling on CMS to better protect residents from such abuse.

In a statement, the San Francisco Public Health Department said it had implemented a “significant restructuring.” 

Laguna Honda “has been the focus of extensive improvements facility-wide, including new policies, enhanced quality management protocols, and new programs that align with national best practices,” a spokesperson said. “This is all with the goal of creating a lasting culture of safety, transparency, and continuous improvement.”

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City to pay $5.8M in class action over elder abuse at Laguna Honda