Jury Hits San Francisco With $500,000 Award in Laguna Honda Death Case

Transfer During Crisis

Pham had been living at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, the city’s largest skilled nursing facility, since July 2021.

But by spring 2022, the hospital was in crisis. Federal regulators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services moved to decertify Laguna Honda after years of safety violations and regulatory failures. The decision forced city officials to prepare a plan to relocate hundreds of residents.

At the time, the facility housed nearly 700 patients, many of whom required skilled nursing care and relied on Medi-Cal coverage. Despite the scale of the relocation effort, court filings say there were fewer than two dozen skilled nursing beds immediately available locally for residents who could not return home.

Pham was transferred to Seton Coastside Skilled Nursing Facility in San Mateo County on July 8, 2022. He died there 17 days later, on July 25, 2022.

Expert Testimony Described “Toxic Culture”

The family’s lawsuit relied heavily on testimony from healthcare administration expert Christopher Cherney, a veteran nursing home administrator who reviewed medical records and regulatory findings tied to the case.

Cherney told the court that Laguna Honda suffered from what he described as “a culture of intimidation, threats, and unethical practices.” According to Cherney’s declaration, physicians at the facility faced intense pressure from administrators to move residents out of Laguna Honda as federal deadlines approached.

One Laguna Honda physician testified that his job and professional license were threatened if he could not make patients “dischargeable,” according to the court filings. The physician also said hospital leadership discouraged doctors from documenting that transfers could pose a “high risk of death.”

Family Said They Were Pressured

Pham’s family members said they repeatedly warned hospital staff that their father was too frail to survive relocation.

Lan Pham, the patient’s daughter, testified that she was deeply concerned about moving her father away from the staff and environment he had come to depend on. According to deposition testimony, hospital officials told the family they could face $40,000 to $50,000 per month in costs if they refused to accept a transfer placement offered by the facility.

The family said the warning left them feeling they had no real choice.

Board Vote Carries Political and Financial Fallout

Pham’s death occurred during one of the most turbulent periods in Laguna Honda’s history. The decertification crisis followed a string of scandals and regulatory failures at the facility, including drug overdoses among residents and staff misconduct involving patient privacy.

State and federal inspectors issued dozens of deficiencies citing safety violations and failures to protect residents. In the months after residents began being relocated, regulators later issued citations related to discharge-planning failures. Investigators concluded some residents had been transferred even though they were “not discharge ready.”

The Pham verdict adds to the mounting financial and political fallout from Laguna Honda’s regulatory crisis. Approval of the $500,000 payment now rests with the Board of Supervisors, which must authorize the payout as part of the city’s legal claims process.

If approved, the payment will come from city funds.