State Sues Convalescent Hospital in Westminster Over Death

The state has sued a Westminster convalescent hospital, seeking to collect a $25,000 fine imposed after the death of an elderly resident in 1986.

In papers filed in Orange County Superior Court, the state Department of Health Services charges that the “direct and proximate cause” of the man’s death was failure by the Hy-Lond Convalescent Hospital to adequately watch after him.

Authorities found that Hy-Lond had committed an AA violation--the most severe type--and imposed the highest possible fine, said Jacqueline A. Lincer, a district administer for the Department of Health Services.

The convalescent home gained attention in 1985-86 when its residents held prayer vigils and other activities on behalf of Americans held hostage in Lebanon.

In December, 1985, Hy-Lond sponsored a celebration at the Westminster Civic Center welcoming back two released Beirut hostages, TV journalist Jeremy Levin and the Rev. Benjamin Weir.

On Friday, Hy-Lond’s nursing director, Janice Patrick, said the facility would have no comment on the suit.

Deputy State Atty. Gen. Laurie Robin Pearlman, who is representing state health department, identified the patient only as William G. and said he was in his mid-80s.

The citation issued by the department accused the Hy-Lond staff of failing to take adequate precautions against the patient’s tendency to fall from his bed. Department records said the patient had undergone surgery on his hip the week before the fall that led to his death.

Pearlman said the patient was found on the floor on Sept. 8, 1986, at 4:15 p.m. Four hours later, he was transferred by ambulance to an acute care hospital, she said.

Department documents said Hy-Lond employees made no record of their treatment of the patient from the time of his fall to his transportation to the hospital.

The patient had surgery Sept. 10 and died the following day, department records said.

Following the patient’s death, department officials investigated Hy-Lond and assessed the $25,000 penalty. The minimum fine for a violation that leads to a resident’s death is $5,000.

Department records state that “the facility’s failure to adequately protect this patient and to continually assess him . . . presented an imminent danger to the patient” that led to his death.

Hy-Lond contested that finding in a departmental review conference, but officials upheld the penalty, records said.

The facility filed a protest of the citation in March, 1987, Pearlman said, and has refused to pay the fine. As a result, the state must sue to try to collect the penalty.

Lincer, who heads the department’s licensing division in the county, said AA citations are rare among the county’s 65 convalescent hospitals.

The citation against Hy-Lond did not indicate that other residents are in danger, Lincer said. The patient’s death represented “more an isolated incident than a pattern of neglect,” she said.

Overall, Lincer said, Hy-Lond’s record is “not that bad. We have complaints against all our facilities. We have some against this facility, but the number isn’t all that bad.”