A security guard stands watch Friday morning June 12 at the now closed nursing facility. Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
By Terry Miller
Sixty patients at the Golden Cross Health Care nursing home in Pasadena were evacuated from an unlicensed facility due to numerous violations, including concerns about protocols related to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Friday.
“The city went above and beyond in protecting the more than 60 residents at Golden Cross. The healthcare facility, located on North Fair Oaks, failed to do its most fundamental duty in providing its most basic functions of caring for these patients: providing sufficient nutrition and water, and ensuring their safety from not only COVID-19, but also basic medical needs like oxygen, diabetes care, wound care,” city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian told Pasadena Independent.
Sixty-three residents were transported Thursday evening into the early hours of Friday, according to Derderian.
According to a statement from the city, Pasadena city staff repeatedly and relentlessly pushed the state to act on the information being collected by its own inspectors, who were regulating this facility.
“This facility was so unstable, it required assistance from the CAlMat team (EMSA), and the national guard, and both teams reported concerns about the poor quality of care and lack of improvement when the state issued multiple plans of correction.
“The City had prepared options for alternative SNFs for residents early on, including mobilizing EMS transport multiple times, and having the Ombudsman communicate with families, but was stopped by the state per their request. They issued a temporary suspension of the license but still encountered difficulty implementing the actual movement of residents out, so they asked for assistance from the city. The facility was operating without a license.
“The city went into action immediately and was able to safely transfer all patients to new locations,” Derderian said.
COVID-19 simply unmasked the underlying and ongoing problems at Golden Cross, that should be monitored by the state regulatory authority. Once their license was revoked, they were operating without a license, and the city was able to move residents out.
The facility lied to the city on several occasions on the health status of their patients, according to Derderian: “Sad when they put greed in front of patient care and welfare and only look at the business aspect not the human beings and families involved.”
By Friday morning, the patients had been relocated to other facilities in Los Angeles County via a convoy of about 30 private ambulances.
