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 that Silverado Senior Living Management failed to follow proper security 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 an epicenter of COVID-19 at the time,» and was not properly tested upon arrival or isolated after later testing positive for the virus, the district attorney said. of Los Angeles County, George Gascón, in a statement. statement.
“These careless decisions created conditions that needlessly exposed Silverado staff and residents to serious injury and, tragically, death,” Gascón said.
An outbreak at the Beverly Place facility has killed 14 people between the ages of 32 and 94, prosecutors said. Additionally, 45 employees and 60 residents became ill, according to the court filing.
Silverado Senior Living Management and three of its managers each face 13 felony counts of endangering the elderly and five felony counts of violations causing death, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
“Silverado’s top priority is and always has been to provide world-class care, respect and dignity for people living with dementia and a caring environment for our associates,” spokesman Jeff Frum said in a statement. “We deny all charges brought against us, they are unfounded and flagrantly contradict the facts. We look forward to presenting our case during the legal process.”
“We will always mourn 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 from the beginning. We recognized the unprecedented threat of Covid-19 to society, particularly to people living with dementia and their carers.»
The Irvine-based firm runs care centers throughout Southern California.