St. John of God Retirement & Care Center v. State Department of Health Care Services

Glover-Woods was a resident of St. John of God Retirement & Care Center (St. John), a skilled nursing facility in Los Angeles, who elected hospice care through a provider under contract to the facility. When Ms. Woods experienced a psychotic episode, the hospice provider directed that she be transferred from St. John to an acute care hospital for evaluation and treatment. When her treatment was concluded, St. John refused to readmit her to the first available bed under 42 Code of Federal Regulations, part 483.12 (2015) (part 483.12), which governs the requirements for a skilled nursing facility’s involuntary transfer or discharge of a resident. After an administrative hearing, the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) ordered St. John to readmit Ms. Woods. The superior court denied St. John’s petition for writ of administrative mandate seeking to vacate the order, and St. John appeals.

We conclude that in light of developments during the pendency of the appeal, the order requiring Ms. Woods’s readmission is now moot. However, because there is a separate civil lawsuit between the parties in which the issue is likely to arise again, we exercise our discretion to…