INCLUSION DAILY EXPRESS -- Laguna Honda Hospital

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Laguna Honda Hospital -- Largest Nursing Home In US

"This would be an outrage anywhere in the country but it is especially galling that Laguna Honda is being rebuilt in the Bay Area, the birthplace of the independent living movement."
--From an ADAPT action alert, on why disability rights advocates are fighting against the city and county of San Francisco which plan to rebuild the nation's largest nursing facility

2008
Sept. 22: Laguna Honda Plaintiffs Celebrate Settlement's Final Approval
Feb. 21: Patient Walks Away From Nursing Home After Hours Of Waiting . . . And Waiting
2007
Dec. 10: Laguna Honda Settlement Means Community-Based Housing For Thousands
April 2: Two Women Die From Falls At Laguna Honda
2005
Dec. 9: Critics Say Plan To Save Laguna Honda Motivated By Politics
Sept. 16: Costs Of Rebuilding Huge Nursing Home Continue To Climb
2004
August 24: Court Orders Laguna Honda To Take Back Man Who Allegedly Ordered Gang "Hit"
August 3: Feds Cite California For Laguna Honda Civil Rights Violations
July 16: Laguna Honda Security Still Questioned
June 8: Were S.F. Tax-Payers 'Sold A Bill Of Goods?'; Laguna Honda Accepts Younger, Violent Patients
January 7: Laguna Honda Lawsuit Settled
2003
May 3: Justice Department Says Laguna Honda Violates Civil Rights
2002
January 8: Laguna Honda Suit Moves Ahead
2001
October 15: Advocates Tell San Francisco: "Just Say 'NO!' to Laguna Honda"
October 22: Activists Begin San Francisco Action
October 23: Activists Actions Lead To Meeting With Mayor, But Arrests At State Offices
October 24: Protesters Forced To Go Over Mayor's Head
2000
July 18: Nursing Home Residents Want Alternatives

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Nursing Home Residents Want Alternatives
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 18, 2000

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--Ten people who are residents of Laguna Honda Hospital, or are at risk of being institutionalized there, have filed a class action lawsuit in U. S. District Court seeking access to community-based long-term care services.

The lawsuit, filed last Wednesday, alleges that the City and County of San Francisco, as well as several state agencies, are violating federal law by failing to provide long-term care for people who would prefer to live in their own homes. Those federal laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Nursing Home Reform Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The plaintiffs want the court to order the agencies to use existing community-based, non-institutional alternatives for long-term care and develop new ones. They also want agencies to identify the long-term care needs of those they serve, and determine whether those needs can be met in an integrated, community-based setting.

The group claims that people who are eligible for alternatives to institutional care are not allowed to choose home and community-based alternatives. Many are not even informed of those options.

A summary of the suit is available on the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) website:
http://www.dredf.org/press_releases/pressrel2.html

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Advocates Tell San Francisco: "Just Say 'NO!' to Laguna Honda"
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 15, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--Hundreds of disability rights activists are expected to descend on San Francisco at the end of this week to deliver a message to Californians and especially Mayor Willie Brown.

That message reads: "Just Say No to Laguna Honda! Tear Down the Walls!"

Laguna Honda is the largest nursing home in the nation with 1200 beds. Many of the residents live in rooms with up to 30 other people. It's also one of the most expensive facilities, costing over $90,000 a year per person in 1999, compared to the national average of $40,000, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

The good news that the 132-year-old facility will be torn down.

The bad news is that in November of 1999, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a $299 million bond issue to pay for building a new Laguna Honda. Those plans are moving forward in spite of the world-wide movement away from institutional settings, not to mention federal laws promoting much less costly community supports and the June 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision which ruled that "unnecessarily" institutionalizing people with disabilities violated the Constitution.

The activists from several groups are calling on the city and county to direct resources where they belong and will cost much less -- in the community.

Hundreds are expected from the disability rights group ADAPT, which will hold its Fall Action in San Francisco starting Saturday October 20 through Thursday October 25.

Here are several articles and resources on the struggle against Laguna Honda:

From ADAPT:
"Nightmare at Laguna Honda"
http://www.adapt.org/laguna_honda_article.html

"ADAPT Tells San Francisco: 'Don't Use Public $$$ to Rebuild Dinosaur'"
http://www.dimenet.com/cgi-bin/getlink?adaptpr,70R

For background on the situation at Laguna Honda, check out Marta Russell's article that appeared in the January 2000 Ragged Edge Magazine:
"Stuck at The Nursing Home Door"
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0100/a0100ft1.htm

In July of 2000, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of 10 people who live at Laguna Honda, claiming that the City and County of San Francisco violated their constitutional rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act by pouring resources into rebuilding the facility rather than providing community-based alternatives. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote this story about that suit:
"Suit Says City Violates Disability Laws"
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/ca/lh071400.htm

In August of this year, a U.S. District Court judge upheld the rights of those people to move forward with the suit, after the city and county had asked to have it dismissed. More details on that decision are available in the press release from DREDF (Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Inc.), which filed the suit:
"Judge Says Laguna Honda Residents Can Sue City Of San Francisco"
http://www.dredf.org/press_releases/laguna.html

How can you help if you are not going to San Francisco?
Here is a petition you can fill out to show your support:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/ca/adaptpetition.htm

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Activists Begin San Francisco Action
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 22, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--"Lagunahondasaurus."

That's what the group of 600 disability rights activists from 30 states assembled in San Francisco this week are calling Laguna Honda Hospital -- the nation's largest nursing facility.

Activists are here because the city plans to tear down the facility that houses 1200 people, and rebuild it at a cost of at least $600 million in public money over the next 10 years.

After a rally at a park across the street from the facility Sunday, the group marched silently around the facility, and left wooden crosses and Stars of David near a statue of Florence Nightingale in front of the hospital in memory of friends and loved ones who have died in similar institutional settings.

Most of the activists are from ADAPT chapters from around the country, joined by members of the National Coalition on Self-Determination, Coalition of Californians for Olmstead, Independent Living Centers and other disability rights groups.

The demonstrators want the city to scrap the idea of pouring millions of dollars into incarcerating people behind expensive new institution walls, and instead spend the money to move people into the community where they can have freedom -- at a much lower cost to taxpayers.

"Instead of serving 1000 people in Laguna Honda at a cost of $150,000/year, the city could serve nearly 5000 people in the community for the same cost," said Mike Auberger, ADAPT National Organizer, who blames those who stand to gain either financially or politically by rebuilding the huge facility.

"It's simply wrong to hold people hostage so that others can profit from their imprisonment,' Auberger said. "There's a better way, and that way is to build community."

The Memphis Center for Independent Living is hosting on-going coverage of the event. This link should take you to a report that includes pictures of those involved in the action:
http://www.mcil.org/mcil/adapt/lh/lh-rpt02a.htm

Here are pictures of some attendees:
http://www.mcil.org/mcil/adapt/lh/face-21b.htm

Background on Laguna Honda Hospital along with previous Inclusion Daily Express coverage can be found on this web page from Ragged Edge Magazine:
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/drn/drn101601lagunahonda.htm

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Activists Actions Lead To Meeting With Mayor, But Arrests At State Offices
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 23, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--Disability rights activists from around the country blocked access to City Hall on Monday to force a meeting with Mayor Willie Brown to discuss alternatives to rebuilding Laguna Honda Hospital, the nation's largest nursing home. After several hours, the Mayor's office agreed to meet Wednesday morning with representative from the crowd of 600 demonstrators from ADAPT and other groups.

On Tuesday, similar attempts at the Hiram W. Johnson California State Office Building yielded different results as California Highway Patrol officers arrested over 100 of the protesters.

The demonstrators overwhelmed the building and the officers for several hours, as they demanded a meeting with Governor Gray Davis to discuss the state's lack of movement to implement the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead ruling. That decision held that "unnecessarily" institutionalizing people with disabilities is a form of discrimination and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Davis refused to meet with the activists or to authorize the state's Medicaid Director or the Director of Human Services to meet on his behalf.

As CHP officers tried to move people and wheelchairs from ramps and entrances, several of the protesters slid out of their chairs and crawled up stairs to the entrances.

"Governor Gray's refusal to negotiate in good faith made us even more committed to hold our ground," said Daniese McMullin Powell, ADAPT Organizer from Maine.

Nadina Laspina, an ADAPT Organizer from New York City, said her experience on September 11 has given her actions here even more meaning.

"I live and work in the shadow of the World Trade Center, and I came here to San Francisco because as a New Yorker, I witnessed an unspeakable horror that left me feeling violated and powerless," Laspina said. "As a person with a disability, I want to put an end to another horror that makes me feel violated-the horror of Laguna Honda and of all nursing homes."

"For those of us who have managed to survive and escape them, the threat of a nursing home is truly as frightening as the threat of terrorism. There is a better way."

The Memphis Center for Independent Living has this story and photos from Monday's action:
http://www.mcil.org/mcil/adapt/lh/lh-rpt03a.htm

Here is a link to the story and photos from Tuesday's action:
http://www.mcil.org/mcil/adapt/lh/lh-rpt014a.htm

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Protesters Forced To Go Over Mayor's Head
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 24, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--After a meeting with the mayor of San Francisco went sour Wednesday, disability rights protesters set their sights on federal officials.

Mayor Willie Brown met briefly with a group of 15 protesters, as he had agreed to do on Monday. But Brown refused to talk about community alternatives to rebuilding Laguna Honda Hospital, the largest nursing home in the nation with 1200 beds.

"The meeting with the mayor was a complete joke," said Stephanie Thomas, an ADAPT organizer from Austin, Texas. "The mayor would not even start a task force to study the issues."

Approximately 600 activists from ADAPT and other groups from around the country are here to call on government officials to reconsider the plan, and to redirect resources where they belong and will cost much less -- in the community.

Two years ago, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a $299 million bond issue to pay for rebuilding the 132-year-old facility. Those plans are moving forward in spite of the world-wide movement away from institutions, and the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision which ruled that "unnecessarily" institutionalizing people with disabilities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

ADAPT activists are not known for backing down easily or stopping when they run into a barrier. After the fruitless meeting with the mayor, the crowd of protesters, many in wheelchairs, moved directly to the federal building at the United Nations Plaza. There they took up positions blocking the entrances until they received guarantees of a meeting with local federal officials.

A meeting was arranged with Josh Valdez, the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's Regional Representative for Region IX, and Steven Derring, the Region IX Deputy Director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS). Valdez and Derring agreed to meet again in two weeks to continue the dialogue and address complaints filed with the HHS Office of Civil Rights over California's lack of movement to enforce the Olmstead ruling.

The Memphis Center for Independent Living ran this story complete with pictures:
http://www.mcil.org/mcil/adapt/lh/lh-rpt5a.htm

KRON-TV ran this report on Monday, which is available in Real Audio:
http://oaksgroup.bluehue.org/protest.ram

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Laguna Honda Suit Moves Ahead
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 8, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--A U.S. judge has ruled that a civil rights lawsuit filed against the City and County of San Francisco and the State of California on behalf of residents of the nation's largest publicly-owned nursing home can move forward.

Ten residents of Laguna Honda Hospital sued San Francisco and several state agencies in July 2000, claiming the agencies violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the Nursing Home Reform Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, by not providing community-based services for those who want to live in their own homes instead of nursing homes and other institutions. The lawsuit cites the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision, which ruled that "unnecessarily" institutionalizing people with disabilities is a form of discrimination.

Lawyers for San Francisco filed a number of legal motions to have the case dismissed.

According to a media release from the San Francisco-based Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF), District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong ruled on December 18, 2001 that some of the claims made by the original plaintiffs must be removed from the suit, but that the case will move forward.

"The plaintiffs have waited long enough," said Buckmaster de Wolf, a partner at Howrey Simon Arnold & White, who is also acting on behalf of the plaintiffs. "It is time to move forward with this case."

Last October, hundreds of disability rights activists gathered in San Francisco to protest the city and county's decision to rebuild Laguna Honda which houses over 1,000 people.

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Justice Department Says Laguna Honda Violates Civil Rights
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 5, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--The U.S. Department of Justice says that the city and county of San Francisco are violating the rights of people housed at Laguna Honda Hospital by not providing them with the choice to live in the community.

The 134-year-old facility is the oldest nursing home in California and the largest in the United States with 1,200 beds.

Assistant Attorney General Ralph Boyd Jr sent a 30 page letter to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera last month, informing the city that it violates the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act by not providing alternatives to the nursing home. Boyd said the Justice Department could sue over the violations, but wants to work cooperatively with the administration.

Boyd's letter is the result an investigation by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. It noted that dozens of those housed at Laguna Honda Hospital have no medical needs being met by the nursing facility.

In 1999, San Francisco voters approved a bond to help pay for a new $401 facility to replace Laguna Honda. Boyd called the efforts to rebuild "misguided".

The DOJ letter backs up actions by disability rights advocates who have tried to keep the new facility from being built.

In July 2000, a group of Laguna Honda residents sued San Francisco and several state agencies, claiming the agencies violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the Nursing Home Reform Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, by not providing community-based services for those who want to live in their own homes. The lawsuit cites the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision, which ruled that unnecessarily institutionalizing people with disabilities is a form of discrimination.

In October 2001, approximately 600 activists from ADAPT and other groups from around the nation gathered in San Francisco to protest the plans to rebuild the aging facility.

Related resources:
"U.S. slams S.F. over Laguna Honda: Institutional care called too confining, costly" (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/05/03/MN82916.DTL

"Investigation of Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center" (U.S. Department of Justice)
[Note: This 30 page document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader]
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/documents/laguna_honda_hosp.pdf

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