The California Public Health Department has dropped efforts to suspend the license of a Hollywood nursing home whose actions were found to have led to two patient deaths in recent years.
Brier Oak on Sunset was among seven Los Angeles County facilities that received notice last month that the state was moving to suspend their licenses.
At the time, the state believed all seven companies had received at least two “AA” violations within the last two years, a spokesperson for the Public Health Department said.
An AA violation is a relatively rare penalty issued for errors that contribute substantially to a resident’s death. California law allows the suspension or revocation of a nursing home’s license once a facility gets two such violations within a 24-month period.
Although Brier Oak received its AA violation notices 22 months apart, the residents’ deaths took place about 26 months apart, state records show.
“We recently determined that Brier Oak’s Notice was based on citation issuance date, not the date of the incidents that gave rise to the citations,” the health department said in a statement. “Therefore, this Notice of Suspension has been rescinded.”
Brier Oak on Sunset didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The state investigation found that staff oversights at Brier Oak led to the deaths of two residents in 2022 and 2024.
In August, a patient died after rolling off a bed while her nurse was tending to a different patient, the state said in its citation report, which noted that paramedics found the woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
In May 2022, a patient died roughly 50 hours after her admission to Brier Oak. An investigation determined that staff neglected to administer crucial medications, the state said.
In a September 2022 phone interview, the patient’s family member told state investigators that “Resident 1 ‘did not get her medications for two days [from admission] and staff let her die,’” the state wrote in its report. The family member continued: “She did not deserve to die.”
The patient’s family was awarded $1.29 million in arbitration this month after a judge found that the facility was severely understaffed at the time of her arrival and should not have admitted her.
“Respondent’s Facility acted with recklessness in that they knew it was highly probable that their conduct would cause harm, and they knowingly disregarded this risk,” Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green wrote in the interim arbitration award.
License suspension efforts are still proceeding against Antelope Valley Care Center in Lancaster, Ararat Nursing Facility in Mission Hills, Golden Haven Care Center in Glendale, Kei-Ai Los Angeles Healthcare Center in Lincoln Park, Santa Anita Convalescent Hospital in Temple City and Seacrest Post-Acute Care Center in San Pedro.
Attorneys for Ararat said that the suspension was “unwarranted” and that it will be appealing. The other facilities didn’t respond to requests for comment.
