LA-area care home owner, 3 managers charged after 14 COVID-related deaths

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California residential care home company and three of its managers have been charged in connection with 14 COVID-related deaths at one of its facilities three years ago, prosecutors said Monday.

The criminal complaint alleges Silverado Senior Living Management failed to follow appropriate safety procedures when admitting a new resident to its Beverly Place facility in Los Angeles in March 2020.

The resident arrived from New York City, “which was a COVID-19 epicenter at the time,” and was not properly screened upon arrival or placed in isolation after later testing positive for the virus, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.

“These careless decisions created conditions that needlessly exposed Silverado staff and its residents to serious injury and – tragically – death,” Gascón said.

An outbreak at the Beverly Place facility led to the deaths of 14 people ranging in age from 32 to 94, prosecutors said. In addition, 45 employees and 60 residents were sickened, according to the court filing.

Silverado Senior Living Management and three of its managers each face 13 felony counts of elder endangerment and five felony counts of violations causing death, according the DA’s statement.

“Silverado’s top priority is and always has been providing world-class care, respect, and dignity to people living with dementia and a caring environment for our associates,” spokesman Jeff Frum said in a statement. “We deny all charges filed against us – they are baseless and egregiously contradict the facts. We look forward to presenting our case during the legal process.”

“We will always grieve the loss of the residents to the pandemic and the frontline hero who cared for them,” the statement said. “We have taken the pandemic extremely seriously since the start. We recognized COVID-19’s unprecedented threat to society, particularly for people living with dementia and their caregivers.”

The Irvine-based firm manages care facilities across Southern California.

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