MORGAN HILL (CBS 5) — Two people who live in a large Morgan Hill home have been arrested on suspicion of holding a handyman hostage and forcing him to do home repairs.

Investigators said the 50-year-old victim was lured to a home on 200 block of Caldwell Court Monday morning. The sprawling 4,600 square foot home has five bedrooms and is equipped with a pool, a beach volleyball court, and a tennis court.

“He was assaulted, he was threatened with his life, and he was forced to do some work at the house,” Sgt. Jose Cardoza of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office told CBS 5.

Detectives said 36-year-old Jason DeJesus and 33-year-old Chanelle Troedson beat the handyman, threatened to kill him and forced him to fix several items in the house over a six-hour span. The repairs included a dishwasher and a broken door.

“The victim was pretty terrified. He was pretty shaken up and scared by this whole incident,” Cardoza said. “What he did tell investigators is that he was just trying to do what he was being told, wait for the opportunity to escape.”

On Monday night, authorities said the suspects forced the handyman into his truck. With one of the suspects driving, the victim was told they were traveling to a suspect’s relative’s house in Santa Clara to perform additional repairs.

They pulled over at a gas station on Santa Teresa Blvd. and Cottle Road in South San Jose. The handyman escaped when the suspects left to pay for gas and snacks. DeJesus and Troedson were arrested by police shortly after.

Other people who lived in the home declined to be interviewed by CBS 5.

Investigators said the handyman performed work for De Jesus’ mother two months ago.

“The work wasn’t performed to the likes of the suspect’s relative at the time, and on top of that there was dispute over services rendered, the victim wasn’t paid entirely. That kind of boiled over into what occurred last night,” Cardoza said.

DeJesus and Troedson face several felony charges including false imprisonment, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, and conspiracy.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Sgt. Julian Quinonez or Detective Sgt. Dave Roberts at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office at (408) 808-4500. Tips can also be left anonymously at (408) 808-4431.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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News

By Isabel Keane

Published
Oct. 3, 2023, 10:57 a.m. ET

Residents of Millennium Tower, better known as the Leaning Tower of San Francisco, have been left to foot a $6.8 million bill after a much-needed renovation project failed to fix the troubled luxury building’s 29-inch tilt and caused nasty sewage spills.

Repairs to correct the infamous tower’s 29-inch tilt concluded with residents being billed $10 per square foot of condo space — costing tenants $6.8 million in total — as the project cost $20 million more than the $100 million expected, NBC Bay Area reported.

The 545-foot-tall tower continued to tilt and sink further west after architects attempted to repair its foundation last fall. While the issue has not been fixed, residents were told they had until October to pay for the so-called repairs.

“I don’t know what to do with this place, because it is costly – I cannot live in it,” said Mehrdad Mostafavi, who moved out in June after sewage began to flow out of his kitchen sink.

Residents of Millennium Tower have been hit with a massive bill following so-called repairs done to fix its tilt. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

While scrambling to clean up the sewage backup, which Millennium fix engineers warned could happen due to the tower’s tilt, Mostafavi was slapped with a bill for nearly $14,000 from the Tower owners association.

“It’s a luxurious building and famous building, but unfortunately it is not like this for me as an owner,” Mostafavi told the outlet. “I am really suffering.”

Mehrdad Mostafavi moved out of the building in June after sewage began coming out of his sink. NBC Bay Area

Mostafavi said the bill had come after he already dipped into his retirement savings account to pay for his wrecked kitchen.

“I’m really having a hard time seeing how can I leave for the retirement — how to get out of this apartment and do my retirement” he said. “It is very costly…. they keep asking for more money and this is not acceptable for me.”

Mostafavi said he had to dig into his retirement savings to fix the damage the construction caused to his home. NBC Bay Area

Residents were charged $10 per square foot, costing Mostafavi nearly $14,000 for his condo. NBC Bay Area

After homeowners were compensated for lost property value, the tower association was given $150 million to cover costs — but it still was not enough given the troubled project’s numerous setbacks, the association said.

“The delays and the city’s heightened requirements resulted in significant unforeseen project cost increases,” the association’s letter to residents said.

The bill noticed shared a rough accounting for the $6.8 million owed by residents — and tried to assure homeowners that they were not alone in having to pay, since the tower’s developer and the fix contractor pitched in $10 million to offset overruns.

According to recent monitoring data, ever since the construction wrapped in June the building’s tilt has only improved by a fraction.

The 29-inch tilt was first revealed to the luxury building’s residents in 2016.

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Marlowe, the SoMa restaurant known for serving one of San Francisco’s most famous burgers, could be forced to move either temporarily or for good according to plans for a new mixed-use development submitted to the city. Since 2014, Marlowe has occupied a ground-floor space at 500 Brannan Street, but according to the San Francisco Standard, the building’s owner hopes to construct a new building on the site. The plans show a “five-story building with a roof deck, balconies, and a full-service restaurant.” Still, Marlowe owner James Nicholas says the restaurant team is “discussing the option of staying” while evaluating “other options.”

States Coffee in Berkeley has closed

East Bay Nosh reports that States Coffee has closed its Berkeley location on San Pablo Avenue. As baking operations ceased a few months ago, the owners tell the outlet the space was underutilized. States Coffee outposts in Oakland, Martinez, and Benicia remain open; the former Berkeley location will be taken over by Lavender Bakery.

Fik’s Cue lands a brick-and-mortar space in Alameda

Central Texas-style barbecue specialist Fik’s Cue has been a delivery and pick-up operation up until now, but per an Instagram post owners Reka and Fik Saleh have secured a brick-and-mortar space in Alameda. Details are sparse — the couple hasn’t shared an address yet — but stay tuned for updates.

Upcoming Malama Maui fundraisers for wildfire relief

Chef Ravi Kapur’s two restaurants Liholiho Yacht Club and Good Good Culture Club will host a lineup of fundraiser events for Maui wildfire relief with proceeds going to Napili Noho, “a community-based emergency distribution hub at Nāpili Park” in Lahina. The events include an artisans market ($125) on Sunday, October 8 at Good Good Culture Club from 1 to 4 p.m., followed by a dinner ($500) on Monday, October 9 starting at 5:30 p.m., featuring guest chef Sheldon Simeon of Tinroof in Maui and Top Chef fame, as well as local stars Pim Techamuanvivit (Nari, Kin Khao), Scott Nishiyama (Ethel’s Fancy), Sri Gopanthan (Copra, Ettan). Kumu hula Patrick Makuakane of Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu will also attend to “set the intention of the evening and share hula with us.” Reservations for the October 9 dinner can be made via Resy.

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Patients who were already victimized once by California’s forced sterilization program — and who are running out of time to claim state compensation — were nearly victimized again.

This time, it’s because of a data breach that exposed their personal and medical information.

Last December, a researcher looking into the sterilization of thousands of female patients and inmates — a practice that was sanctioned since the 1900s and had only ceased in 2013 — was viewing records from the California State Archives. Records 75 years and older are publicly accessible, but a digital copy of microfilm the researcher viewed was mislabeled and actually included more recent information, from 1948 to 1954.

The records were eventually pulled and redacted from the state Archives after the researcher told officials. But personal information, including patients’ full names, birthdates and family medical histories were exposed, as well as medical information such as diagnoses and dates of sterilization.

California’s secretary of state office, which oversees the state Archives, quietly posted a notice on its website on March 10 about what it called a “privacy incident of historical health records” and has been notifying those who have been affected. For those who suspect they are part of the breach, the secretary of state offered a FAQ with a few tips on identity theft. An office spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

These kinds of records are used by researchers to help verify victims and estimate the number of living survivors.

• Nicole Novak, co-director of the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab research team: “It’s remarkable that these archival records exist. When used appropriately and under the correct security standards and ethical guidelines, they are a really powerful resource for documenting the scope and scale of the state’s eugenics program.”

By 1979, long after the peak of the 1930s eugenics movement, California sterilized an estimated 20,000 people, deemed unfit to reproduce, without their consent. The practice ended in 1979 for state hospitals and in 2010 for state prisons, when eugenics laws were finally repealed. 

An exposé from The Center for Investigative Reporting in 2013 revealed 148 women were sterilized without proper approval from 2006 to 2010, and a separate state audit found that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation oversaw the illegal sterilization of 144 inmates from 2005 to 2013.

In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a compensation program that pays as much as $25,000 per patient. The program is budgeted at $7.5 million and ends Dec. 31. Despite public outreach to contact more patients, plus radio and TV ads, it’s unlikely that California will find and compensate all victims. Through February, about 60 claims had been approved, totaling $915,000.

• Lynda Gledhill, chief executive of the California Victim Compensation Board, to Capitol Weekly: “This is a very hard to reach population. The estimates are that there are maybe 600 of those people still alive. And as you can imagine, they are quite elderly. And if they were in state hospitals or were incarcerated, their relationship with state government is not that great so they can be very hard to reach.”

Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, a Los Angeles Democrat who authored the compensation law, said in an emailed statement to CalMatters that the disclosure of personal information is “concerning because we do not want to impose any additional trauma on these survivors whom have suffered enough.” 

But safeguards should prevent more problems, she added, and this incident should not distract from the compensation program itself.

• Carrillo: “As we set out to rectify these past wrongs, it is essential that we take all necessary steps to find and compensate survivors.”

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California’s water crisis, explained: Despite the series of atmospheric rivers and devastating floods, the state isn’t flush with water. CalMatters has a detailed look at how California might increase its water supply. And now, you can read it in Spanish.  

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Other Stories You Should Know

1
Who drives EVs in CA?

Electric vehicles parked at a home in Atherton on March 16, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

Who buys electric cars in California?

In the latest installment of CalMatters’ series “Race to Zero: California’s bumpy road to electrify cars and trucks,” environmental reporter Nadia Lopez and data reporter Erica Yee analyzed statewide data to reveal a strikingly homogenous portrait of who owns electric vehicles in California. 

The highest concentrations of electric cars are in ZIP codes where residents are at least 75% white and Asian. And they are congregated in Silicon Valley cities and affluent parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties. In contrast, electric cars are nearly non-existent in Latino, Black and low-income communities.

• Kevin Fingerman, an associate professor of energy and climate at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt: “It makes sense why we would see way more concentrations of EVs in densely urban areas or populated areas. The barriers to people owning electric vehicles across the demographics in the state are real. But they’re solvable.” 

The portrait reveals the enormous challenge that California faces to electrify the fleet. If people who buy electric cars are largely white or Asian, highly educated, wealthy suburbanites, will they be accessible to all Californians — no matter their race, income and location — in the coming decade? 

California’s ambition to battle climate change and clean up air pollution hinges on its ability to electrify its 25 million gas cars to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The next decade will be telling for the state as it enforces a historic mandate that requires 35% of cars sold in California, beginning with 2026 models, to be zero-emissions, ramping up to 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. 

As part of the report, Nadia highlights the good and bad experiences of drivers in California, offering a glimpse into the challenges the state faces to meet the mandate.

• Urvi Nagrani, 35, an EV owner in Los Altos: “People living in Silicon Valley have home chargers. But we need to have better options for renters because it hasn’t gotten much better for me as a renter.” 

Her reporting indicates that state leaders face an array of obstacles that are causing the wide gaps in electric vehicle ownership: High upfront vehicle costs, lack of chargers for renters and inadequate access to public charging stations in low-income and rural communities.

• Christopher Bowe, 48, a Hayward EV owner: “The average person can’t afford to buy (an electric car) if early adopters like me don’t buy it. But by 2035? That’s a great aspiration, but it’s crazy. There’s no practical way it’s going to happen. The reality is that there is going to be inequity and that inequity is inherent.”

Have questions? Nadia and Erica’s story is the third in a series on California’s road to electrify cars and trucks. Starting in 2035, no new gasoline-powered vehicles will be sold in the state. Do you have questions about this transformation? Submit them here.

2
Tax board on chopping block?

State Assemblymember Phil Ting speaks at San Quentin State Prison on March 17, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

From CalMatters state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal:

State lawmakers have already stripped the state Board of Equalization of many of its powers. But doing away with it entirely — and abolishing four elected positions in the process? 

That could prove a heavier lift. 

On Tuesday, Democratic Assemblymembers Phil Ting from San Francisco, Jacqui Irwin from Thousand Oaks and Cottie Petrie-Norris from Irvine proposed a bill that would ask voters to disband the board via a constitutional amendment in 2024. To get on the ballot, it would require two-thirds approval of both the Assembly and state Senate. 

The board was established in 1879 to make sure the then-powerful railroad industry paid its fair share of taxes. As Irwin noted during the Tuesday press conference: “The BOE is a vestige of the 19th century that existed before most people had indoor plumbing.” 

In recent years, the board has been plagued by a series of scandals and mismanagement. (Among the most notorious: The time former member Jerome Horton spent $130,000 on office furniture — or when actor Rob Lowe accused Horton of using an anti-Semitic slur during an income tax dispute).

In 2017 and 2018, the Legislature created two new tax agencies and gave them many of the board’s taxpayer advocate duties. Ting said the two agencies —  the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Office of Tax Appeals — have been more efficient. 

The board’s remaining duties are to oversee property taxes, alcoholic beverage taxes and insurance taxes, as well as the 58 county assessors’ offices. Under the proposed legislation, the remaining duties would be absorbed by other agencies. It currently employs 500 people.

Ting, chairperson of the Assembly budget committee who led the previous effort to weaken the board, said the move would save $27 million to 35 million a year, as the state is facing a projected $25 billion budget deficit.

• Irwin: “California no longer needs three taxing agencies.”

Ting made clear that the move was not in response to any of the current board members, just elected in November: Ted Gaines, Antonio Vazquez, Sally Lieber and Mike Schaefer, who won a second term despite being disbarred, convicted of spousal abuse and sued for being a slumlord. 

“Many of them are new and have only served a very, very short time,” Ting said. “This is about structurally what needs to be done.”

• Vazquez, the board’s chairperson: “This proposal would silence the voices of taxpayers and the underserved and underrepresented communities of color, replacing the elected Board accountable to all Californians with unelected bureaucrats.” 

Both the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Taxpayers Association also oppose the idea. 

• CalTax President Robert Gutierrez, in a statement: “This misguided proposal would force California’s property tax system into the shadows, reduce accountability, and give a dangerous level of power to political appointees. Our current system provides taxation with representation, and there is no need to eliminate Californians’ right to vote on these important positions.”

The last time California eliminated elected posts was in 1911, when the clerk of the Supreme Court, the state Printer and the Railroad Commission (later renamed the California Public Utilities Commission) became appointed offices, according to Alex Vassar, communications manager for the California State Library.

3
‘Dream,’ for some

A sale sign in front of a home in the Tower District in central Fresno on June 28, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

More Californians are leaving, well, California. The Public Policy Institute of California reported Tuesday that the main driver of recent population losses is the exodus to other states: 7.7 million left from 2010 through 2021, while only 5.8 million moved here from other states. The net loss is across all ages, education and income levels.

The report listed employment, family and — not surprisingly — housing costs as the top reasons people move away. Since 2015, 500,000 who left cited housing as the primary reason, according to Census surveys. 

And buying a home in California could get tougher if the state goes through with plans to scale back its loan program for first-time purchasers, reports CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo.

Known as Dream For All and launching on March 27, the program aims to help low- and middle-income buyers by providing loans that pay for most upfront costs, such as down payments. Along with a full repayment of the initial loan, the state will also get a share of profits when the home is sold, refinanced or transferred.

The proceeds go back to the state, but will also help fund other borrowers down the line. The system works, but only if home prices keep climbing.

That’s a big but.

Thanks to a perfect storm of declining home prices, rising mortgage interest rates, a volatile housing market, a decline in personal income and a projected $22.5 billion budget deficit, Newsom is proposing to reduce funds for the program, which was supposed to be a 10-year, $10 billion investment. Instead of kicking it off with $500 million, it would now have $300 million — enough to help 2,300 buyers. 

Despite the proposed cuts, Toni Atkins, the Senate president pro tem who championed the program, remains optimistic.

• Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego: “Our state is about to launch a program that will help change people’s lives for the better, and make the dream of homeownership a reality.”

Other things worth your time

Some stories may require a subscription to read

Wiener introduces new bill to lay groundwork for single-payer health care // Los Angeles Times

California bill would ban police dogs from arrests and crowd control // Fox News

Newsom gives green light to S.F. housing tower delayed by supervisors // San Francisco Chronicle

Are kids collateral damage in California culture wars? // EdSource

Fight over ethnic studies spreads as requirement in California looms // San Francisco Chronicle

Strike shuts down LA Unified as families grapple with disruptions // EdSource

Balboa Park organizations oppose safe campsite for homeless residents // Voice of San Diego

Bay Area unemployment spikes to highest levels since pandemic // San Francisco Standard

LA police accidentally release photos of undercover officers // Los Angeles Times

In Los Angeles, a friendship grows out of housing strife // Capital & Main

How San Jose could save $23 million // San Jose Spotlight

UC San Diego to spend $1.1 billion on student center and housing // San Diego Union-Tribune

Families in Stanislaus County won’t get FEMA assistance for storm damage // Modesto Bee

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Update, 5pm Wednesday, Oct. 12: Federal regulators have reached an agreement with California and San Francisco health officials to continue funding the Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehabilitation Center until November of next year. The agreement, announced Wednesday, comes after the San Francisco city attorney filed a lawsuit in August against the federal government for its closure plan for the facility, claiming it was an “unworkable” plan that “denied due process” and put the facility’s 600- plus patients at risk.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu agreed to drop his lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services after it allowed the facility to receive funding through Nov. 13, 2023, and agreed to halt relocation proceedings until next February.

Officials on the local, state and federal levels released a joint statement following the agreement, saying they are committed to ensuring people in nursing homes “are receiving safe, high-quality services and support.”

“We are all focused on resident wellbeing while Laguna Honda continues to provide critically needed health care services for hundreds of residents,” the statement said.

Laguna Honda agreed to meet requirements set to improve health and safety conditions at the facility, and may be able to reapply for federal funding in the future. The deadline for transfers and discharges of residents could possibly be extended if the facility meets its obligations, according to the agreement.

Original story, 5:30pm Aug 4: San Francisco officials said Thursday they have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its decision to cut funding to a nursing home run by the city and the tight deadline it set to move all patients out of the facility that state and federal officials deemed was providing “Sub standard care.”

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the order by the federal government to transfer or discharge all patients out of Laguna Honda Hospital by Sept. 13 has denied the city due process and put patients at risk. He said at least nine patients have died days or weeks after being transferred or discharged and that at least three ended up in homeless shelters.

“We’re asking the federal government to exert compassion and common sense,” Chiu said during a Thursday press conference. “Between the huge shortage of skilled nursing facility beds, we see potentially very negative consequences” if the facility closes. “Individuals will become homeless. These people have nowhere to go.”

The post San Francisco Sues Feds Over Pressured Closure of Laguna Honda Hospital appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Last week, federal regulators agreed to pause the transfers after several patients died within days or weeks of being moved from the hospital and rehabilitation center but the deadline to shut down the hospital remains.

Speaking at the press conference, Renne urged CMS to “come to your senses.”

“How much longer are we going to keep this up before more deaths occur?” Renne said.

CMS terminated its payments to Laguna Honda in April after two patients had nonfatal overdoses at the facility in 2021, and inspectors with the California Department of Public Health declared it to be “in a state of substandard care.”

The federal agency, which pays for care for the majority of the nursing home’s 700 patients, also ordered the facility to start discharging or transferring its patients ahead of a mid-September mandated closure.

Founded in 1866, the sprawling facility serves people who need long-term care but who can’t afford private nursing homes. Many of the patients have dementia, drug addiction and other complex medical needs.

City officials say patients and their families are the ones suffering the most because of the forced closure. Debra Bauer spoke Thursday about how the facility has helped her son, who has a traumatic brain injury, and has been a resident at the hospital for about 20 years.

“My son feels safe there, I don’t want that taken away from him,” she said. “I don’t want it taken away from him or any of the other residents that I see and we wave to in the hallways.”

The post San Francisco Sues Feds Over Pressured Closure of Laguna Honda Hospital appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A Queens doctor kept an immigrant handyman as a virtual slave, a lawsuit claims.

dr Philip Baldeo, who said the city created an illegal Airbnb at 156 West 15th St. and ignored thousands in fines, forced the unnamed 44-year-old handyman to work until he became too ill to carry on, according to a Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit .

The handyman, identified only as John Doe in court papers, claims he met Baldeo in 2018 and was offered maintenance work at the doctor’s properties.

Baldeo paid the man just $200 a week but pledged to help him with his immigration papers and to pay for his diabetes medication, according to legal papers.

Instead the family physician forced John Doe to “work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” threatened to call immigration authorities if he didn’t, and required him to live “on the first floor of the building near a front window to provide overnight security,” the handyman charges.

The worker claims Baldeo forced him to keep living at 156 West 15th St. even after the city slapped a stop-work order on the property.

Baldeo allegedly assaulted the handyman when he wasn’t happy with his work, according to the lawsuit.

Baldeo was indicated in August on labor trafficking and coercion charges, pleaded not guilty and released, according to court records. The case is ongoing. He faces two to seven years in prison if convicted on the top charge.

The worker claims he was “too scared” to tell authorities about the arrangement, and only revealed it after he became too sick to work in early 2021 and was hospitalized with COVID-19.

The man is seeking unspecified damages. Baldeo’s lawyer, Richard Levitt, declined to comment.

The post Queens physician Philip Baldeo compelled immigrant handyman into digital slavery appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco officials said Thursday they have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its decision to cut funding to a nursing home run by the city and the tight deadline it set to move all patients out of the facility that state and federal officials deemed was providing “substandard care.”

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the order by the federal government to transfer or discharge all patients out of Laguna Honda Hospital by Sept. 13 has denied the city due process and put patients at risk. He said at least nine patients have died days or weeks after being transferred or discharged and at least three ended up in homeless shelters.

“We’re asking the federal government to exert compassion and common sense,” Chiu said. “Between the huge shortage of skilled nursing facility beds, we see potentially very negative consequences” if the facility closes. “Individuals will become homeless. These people have nowhere to go.”

The city’s lawsuit filed Wednesday against the US Department of Health and Human Services and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra alleges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, imposed an arbitrary closure, requiring the facility to shut down before San Francisco’s administrative appeals can be decided.

Former City Attorney Louise Renne also filed a class action lawsuit against the state and federal government on behalf of Laguna Honda patients and families.

Last week, federal regulators agreed to pause the transfers after several patients died within days or weeks of being moved from the hospital and rehabilitation center but the deadline to shut down the hospital remains.

CMS terminated its payments to Laguna Honda in April after two patients had nonfatal overdoses at the facility in 2021, and inspectors with the California Department of Public Health declared it to be “in a state of substandard care.”

The federal agency, which pays for care for the majority of the nursing home’s 700 patients, also ordered the facility to start discharging or transferring its patients ahead of a mid-September mandated closure.

Founded in 1866, the sprawling facility serves people who need long-term care but can’t afford private nursing homes. Many of the patients have dementia, drug addiction and other complex medical needs.

The post San Francisco sues feds over compelled nursing dwelling closure appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

San Francisco officials said Thursday they have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its decision to cut funding to a nursing home run by the city and the tight deadline it set to move all patients out of the facility that state and federal officials deemed was providing “Sub standard care.”

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the order by the federal government to transfer or discharge all patients out of Laguna Honda Hospital by Sept. 13 has denied the city due process and put patients at risk. He said at least nine patients have died days or weeks after being transferred or discharged and at least three ended up in homeless shelters.

“We’re asking the federal government to exert compassion and common sense,” Chiu said. “Between the huge shortage of skilled nursing facility beds, we see potentially very negative consequences” if the facility closes. “Individuals will become homeless. These people have nowhere to go.”

The city’s lawsuit filed Wednesday against the US Department of Health and Human Services and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra alleges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, imposed an arbitrary closure, requiring the facility to shut down before San Francisco’s administrative appeals can be decided.

Former City Attorney Louise Renne also filed a class action lawsuit against the state and federal government on behalf of Laguna Honda patients and families.

Last week, federal regulators agreed to pause the transfers after several patients died within days or weeks of being moved from the hospital and rehabilitation center but the deadline to shut down the hospital remains.

CMS terminated its payments to Laguna Honda in April after two patients had nonfatal overdoses at the facility in 2021, and inspectors with the California Department of Public Health declared it to be “in a state of substandard care.”

The federal agency, which pays for care for the majority of the nursing home’s 700 patients, also ordered the facility to start discharging or transferring its patients ahead of a mid-September mandated closure.

Founded in 1866, the sprawling facility serves people who need long-term care but can’t afford private nursing homes. Many of the patients have dementia, drug addiction and other complex medical needs.

The post San Francisco sues feds over pressured nursing residence closure appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco officials said Thursday they have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its decision to cut funding to a nursing home run by the city and the tight deadline it set to move all patients out of the facility that state and federal officials deemed was providing “substandard care.”

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the order by the federal government to transfer or discharge all patients out of Laguna Honda Hospital by Sept. 13 has denied the city due process and put patients at risk. He said at least nine patients have died days or weeks after being transferred or discharged and at least three ended up in homeless shelters.

“We’re asking the federal government to exert compassion and common sense,” Chiu said. “Between the huge shortage of skilled nursing facility beds, we see potentially very negative consequences” if the facility closes. “Individuals will become homeless. These people have nowhere to go.”

The city’s lawsuit filed Wednesday against the US Department of Health and Human Services and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra alleges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, imposed an arbitrary closure, requiring the facility to shut down before San Francisco’s administrative appeals can be decided.

Former City Attorney Louise Renne also filed a class action lawsuit against the state and federal government on behalf of Laguna Honda patients and families.

Last week, federal regulators agreed to pause the transfers after several patients died within days or weeks of being moved from the hospital and rehabilitation center but the deadline to shut down the hospital remains.

CMS terminated its payments to Laguna Honda in April after two patients had nonfatal overdoses at the facility in 2021, and inspectors with the California Department of Public Health declared it to be “in a state of substandard care.”

The federal agency, which pays for care for the majority of the nursing home’s 700 patients, also ordered the facility to start discharging or transferring its patients ahead of a mid-September mandated closure.

Founded in 1866, the sprawling facility serves people who need long-term care but can’t afford private nursing homes. Many of the patients have dementia, drug addiction and other complex medical needs.

The post San Francisco sues feds over pressured nursing dwelling closure appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.