Mayor Wants City to be Given Jurisdiction Over Long-Term Care Facilities

Mayor Victor Gordo is looking at asking the state to grant Pasadena concurrent jurisdiction over long-term care facilities (LTCFs) within the city to ensure that patients are receiving necessary care.

There are over 1,000 individuals living in 15 nursing homes and over 2,300 individuals living in almost 100 assisted living/residential care facilities in Pasadena.

Currently, Pasadena does not license, regulate, or operate long-term care facilities but they are regulated by state agencies including the California Department of Public Health, Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division, and Los Angeles County Health Facilities Inspection Division.

“These are Pasadena residents. We have moral and legal responsibility [over them],” Gordo said during the discussion of the Public Safety Committee on Tuesday on the work being done by cross-department group Pasadena Elderly and Dependent Adult Liaisons (PEDAL) to improve the quality of life for elders and dependent adults residing in LTCFs.

“What I’m suggesting, given the critical mass, given the expectation of residents, given we want to do the right thing for residents of Pasadena to keep them safe not just during the pandemic but everyday, I think it’s something we are looking at to see if we can at least on a pilot basis see if we can take that role on with some concurrent jurisdiction,” added Gordo.

Gordo said the city should be given the authority to hire personnel that will conduct regular inspection of LTCFs as well as foster care facilities as he noted that the city has the highest concentration of foster care homes in LA County.

Gordo said the city is capable of delivering better services to residents as he noted it has its own health department.

“How many people are out there on their own in some of these facilities and don’t have the family or friends to advocate for them?”

“We are going back to normal and my concern is that going back to normal for us is a good thing but going back to normal for people who are in these facilities may not be such a good thing because they are no longer receiving the inspections and advocacy that they should have been receiving,” Gordo said.

Agreeing with Gordo, Councilmember Tyron Hampton said the city can do more to ensure quality services for residents in LTCFs.

“Whatever it is, I support it because these are very vulnerable people who oftentimes don’t really see a lot of people. They may not have family members that are going in to visit them,” said Hampton.

In August 2021, the city established PEDAL composed of representatives from the City Manager’s Office, City Attorney/Prosecutor’s Office, the Fire, Police, Public Health, Planning and Community Development Departments, Long-Term Care Ombudsman and Huntington Hospital, to take local action where possible to maintain the required standards at these facilities and advocate for improved regulation by state and county agencies.

Neighborhood and Business Services Administrator and PEDAL co-chair Israel Del Toro reported that since its creation, PEDAL has been working to educate patients and their families about their rights and where they should go should issues arise or when they need to file a complaint.

It has also conducted interagency training programs which include advance level training for police and fire personnel, to identify red flags for elderly abuse.

Since its creation, PEDAL has also created a task force that is conducting “unannounced” inspections at problem locations.

“We are educating operators, cross reporting and taking enforcement actions everywhere possible,” assured Del Toro.

Del Toro said Gordo’s recommendation would be added to PEDAKL’s work planning and further explored in the coming days to help in crafting policies that will enhance the services being provided to LTCFs.