Cottage Park Place v. State Dept.of Public Health CA3

BACKGROUND

The Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973 (Health & Saf. Code, § 1417 et seq.) allows the Department to cite a long-term health facility for violations of state or federal laws or regulations relating to those facilities. (Health & Saf. Code, § 1423.) The most serious violation – a Class AA violation – occurs when the violation is “a direct proximate cause of death of a patient or resident of a long-term health care facility.” (Health & Saf. Code, § 1424, subd. (c).) Cottage Park Place operates Gramercy Court, a long-term skilled nursing facility, where resident Mary Anne Holden was injured on October 12, 2007, and later died of her injuries. The Department issued a Class AA citation and assessed a civil money penalty of $90,000 against Cottage Park Place for violation of 42 Code of Federal Regulations part 483.25, subdivision (h)(2), which provides: “[T]he facility must ensure that [¶] . . . [t]he resident environment remains as free of accident hazards as is possible; and [¶] . . . [e]ach resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.”

2 Specifically, the Department cited Cottage Park Place for not providing…