Complaint·February 9, 2022

Regarding the allegation: Facility does not have an Emergency Disaster Plan . It’s being alleged “in the event of an emergency, residents who are deemed non-ambulatory by their medical doctor are unable to safely descent from the stairwells, there are no evacuation chairs in place on any floor. An Emergency Preparedness Manual is unavailable for staff that provide 24-hour care and/or supervision in the event that there is no management in the community at the time of a potential emergency. Lastly, associates have not underwent any fire, safety, earthquake, and elopement drills.” The investigation revealed the following: During interviews with staff, 5 out of the 6 confirmed this allegation to be true. 1 of the 6 denied the allegation to be true. 5 staff have confirmed either not receiving training on the Emergency Disaster Plan and/or taking part in an actual drill. S1 states, “we do have one, the current plan states to shelter in place. We don’t have evacuation chairs. We have ordered some. S1 states “I don’t know if the associates have been trained on the plan.” During interviews with residents: 7 out of 7 confirmed this allegation to be true. All residents’ state not being aware of the facility’s Emergency Disaster Plan, being trained on what to do in the event of an emergency disaster or taking part in a drill. R1 states, “I have not been trained on what to do in the event of an emergency. There have been no fire drills. There are clearly marked signs for the exit, but I have not been introduced and they did not tell me what to do or where to go in an earthquake.” R3 states, “no, we were not, and I was not provided information on how to use the building, where safety equipment is located and certainly not the evacuation plan.” During interviews with witnesses: 2 out of 2 confirmed this allegation to be true. W1 states, “I’m not aware about what the facility would do in the event of an emergency. They did not tell me or R1.” W2 states, “I don’t know what Watermark’s evacuation plan is in the event of an emergency.” During a review of records, LPA observed a disaster plan originally dated from the time of the facility’s pre-licensing inspection. However, there are no records available to LPA which confirms training has been conducted for staff on the facility’s disaster plan. Facility has no records of drills prior to complaint. Regarding the allegation: Facility is not following COVID-19 guidelines. It’s being alleged associates who have been exempt from their MD or for religious reasons are not being COVID tested weekly per LA County. The investigation revealed the following: During interviews with staff, the Acting Administrator confirmed that some facility staff that are not vaccinated were not being tested weekly. “We have 2 staff with exemptions that Cont. 9099C were not being tested weekly.” S4 confirmed this allegation to be true. They don’t check the family members that come through the parking garage and go straight to the family’s room. Even the move-ins bypass the check point. They don’t show their vaccination card or sign-in. I also know there are certain staff that are not vaccinated that are not being tested.” During interviews with residents, no resident could confirm the allegation to be completely true or false. No resident was able to confirm if unvaccinated staff were being tested weekly. During interviews with witnesses, no witnesses could confirm the allegation to be true or false. During a record review, LPA observed 2 staff with medical/religious exemptions that were last tested Sept 2021 & October 2021, respectively. Based on the investigators interviews with Acting Administrator, staff, residents, witnesses and a record review, the preponderance of evidence standard has been met, therefore the above allegations is found to be Substantiated . California Code of Regulations, Title 22 Division (6) and Chapter (8) are being cited on the attached LIC9099-D. An exit interview was conducted, and a hard copy was provided with appeal rights. See LIC 9009-D on the next page.