Complaint Investigation Report

Administrator believes that residents and staff did not get sick from facility's food. She stated that there was an outbreak and LA County Public Health got involved. LA County Public Health determined that there was a norovirus outbreak based on some stool collected and tested. Administrator stated that their first case was Resident 1 (R1). Resident 1 (R1) vomited in the dining room on 04/08/2024. After this incident, many residents and staff started getting sick. Administrator stated R1 was not showing any symptoms until R1 vomited in the dining room. Administrator believes this incident might have been the beginning of the norovirus outbreak, but LA County Public Health was not able to determined the cause of the norovirus. LPA reviewed the LA County Public Health list of all the residents and staff that got sick and observed a total of 32 residents and 18 staff. R1's date of onset illness was 04/08/2024 and everyone else is either 04/10/2024 or after. The LA County Public Health Nurse assigned to this outbreak stated that the case was assigned to her on 04/11/2024 and it was determined that it was a norovirus outbreak based on test results from some stools they collected. The nurse also stated that unfortunately they were not able to determined the source of this outbreak and this case was closed on 04/25/2024. LPA conducted a tour of the kitchen on 04/18/2024 and today, and did not observed any concerns with the food. Staff interviewed believe they got sick from providing care to the residents that were sick and not from eating the facility's food. Residents interviewed did not provide any information that indicated that the facility's food was the cause of the sickness.

Although the allegation may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove the alleged violation did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is unsubstantiated.

Exit interview held and a copy of the report was provided