Complaint·July 24, 2025

Allegation “Licensee did not refund resident’s estate upon death:” The complaint alleges that Resident #1 (R1) paid a lump sum when moving into the facility and R1’s estate was not refunded the unused balance upon R1’s death. LPA inquired about the facility’s refund policy and Facility Designee indicated the policy depends on what is written in the resident’s admission agreement. LPA reviewed R1’s admission agreement, which states “in the event of resident’s death, the monthly charges paid in advance will not be refunded once the resident is admitted to hospice care.” Admit date on the admission agreement is listed as 12/12/2022, however hospital discharge paperwork indicates R1 was to be discharged to their previous residence on this date. Staff interviewed stated that R1 only resided at the facility for a few days before R1 passed away, however, hospice paperwork reviewed contained notes for R1’s care from 12/12/2022 through 01/03/2023. No death report was received at the Woodland Hills Regional Office (RO,) therefore, it is unclear exactly which date R1 passed away. Interview with facility designee revealed that someone from the county came to retrieve R1’s personal belongings following R1’s death. LPA asked for a written record of belongings the county representative took from the facility, however, facility designee stated no such record exists. Facility designee could not recall which date R1’s belongings were removed from the facility. Although R1 was admitted to hospice care and R1’s admission agreement indicates no refunds will be issued if a resident is admitted to hospice care, health and safety code 1569.652 requires that a refund of any fees paid in advance covering the time after the resident’s personal property has been removed from the facility shall be issued to the resident’s estate. However, facility representatives interviewed could not recall the date R1 died nor the date R1’s belongings were removed and there is no written record indicating either date. A copy of a check written to the facility in the amount of $7500 was found in R1's file. The monthly fee as written in R1's admission agreement was $7500. Licensee representative indicated the check was to pay for 1 (one) month. Even though staff interviewed stated R1 only lived at the facility for days not weeks, it is unclear which date R1 moved into the facility, when R1 passed away and the date their belongings were removed from the facility. Therefore, the LPA cannot determine the amount of refund (if any) due to R1’s estate. The information obtained during the investigation did not include sufficient evidence to corroborate the allegation. Although the allegation may have happened or is valid, there is not sufficient evidence to prove the alleged violation did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is deemed Unsubstantiated at this time. Report Continued on LIC 9099-C (p. 3) Allegation “Facility representative did not report resident’s change in condition:” The complaint alleges that Resident #2 (R2) experienced a decline, which was not reported to R2’s outside health care provider. Interview with facility staff revealed that when a resident experiences any change, including a decline in their health status, facility staff contact all relevant parties telephonically, including the resident’s family, primary physician, and any outside health care provider(s.) Related to R2, facility staff stated they did report to R2’s hospice verbally and the family was present with R2 daily. Documents reviewed did not indicate a change of condition; the last entry on R2’s care/flow sheet on 12/18/2023 indicated R2 was in need of a podiatrist visit at that time, but “no other significant changes to report.” Additionally, LPA reviewed documents sent to the RO from the facility and discovered that no written incident report nor death report were sent to the RO related to R2. The information obtained during the investigation did not include sufficient evidence to corroborate the allegation. Although the allegation may have happened or is valid, there is not sufficient evidence to prove the alleged violation did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is deemed Unsubstantiated at this time. Deficiencies observed not related to the allegations above will be addressed during a case management visit. No deficiencies cited related to this complaint. Exit interview conducted. A copy of the report was provided.