Local News in Brief : El Toro : Owner of State-Closed Convalescent Home Sues
The owner of an El Toro convalescent home closed by the state last year filed suit Tuesday against state officials who recommended that her license be revoked, charging that they “fabricated” their accounts of patient abuse.
In a suit filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Ingrid Henshall, owner of the Love Haven I convalescent home, charges that state health officials who inspected her facility sought to have her license revoked in retaliation for her criticism of government regulations.
Henshall has made similar accusations since the Love Haven I was closed in April, 1987, and state officials have denied those charges. Regulators have said their actions against Love Haven I were based on violations of state codes frequently found on inspections.
Henshall seeks unspecified damages from the officials.
The home was closed by the Department of Social Services on April 6, 1987, after inspectors acting on reports from former employees visited the facility and found violations of state regulations.
Last July, a state administrative law judge revoked Henshall’s license to operate the home after a 30-day proceeding in which former employees testified that Henshall had abused patients.
The administrative law judge, John A. Willd, revoked the license for two years but later characterized Henshall’s violations as technical in nature .
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