By Randall Yip, Executive Editor
(This article is made possible with the support of AARP and The Fund for Investigative Journalism)
A follow up visit by state investigators to Sakura Gardens, an assisted living center in Los Angeles, and the neighboring but shuttered Sakura Intermediate Care Facility, found no further violations.
The inspection came shortly after an article by AsAmNews revealed squatters had invaded the closed Intermediate Care Facility.
Investigators confirmed what AsAmNews had reported. The multistory facility that had been plastered with graffiti from top to bottom had been painted over and that the doors had been padlocked.
Inspectors also observed that the California Department of Transportation fence behind the building that paralleled the 101 Santa Ana freeway had been reinforced.
Barbed wire had also been added to the top of the fence to keep people out.
Inspectors also further inspected the grounds at Sakura Gardens where at least one resident expressed being intimidated by the squatters and felt the need to return to the building after walking around the grounds.
They toured the memory care unit, dining hall, activity room and campus grounds and found no violations.
No mention in the inspection report was made about previous complaints that their phone service had been interrupted after squatters cut the communication lines.
However, in a statement to AsAmNews, the Department of Social Services said “there are no other pending complaints relative to vagrancy or phone services at this facility.”
AsAmNews reached out to Sakura Gardens for comment, but the administrator said she could not comment on the record without permission. She said she would get back to us by yesterday. She had still not returned our call as of the publication of this article.
There’s still no word on what Pacifica, the owner of the facilities, plans to do with the shuttered intermediate care facility. Dozens of mostly Japanese American residents were evicted to make way for market rate housing back in 2021.
However, Pacifica allowed an application to demolish the ICF to expire and there’s been no further word of its plans.
Pacifica bought Sakura Gardens, Sakura ICF, Kei Ai Los Angeles and Kei Ai Southbay in 2016 from the Japanese American non-profit Keiro for $41 million.
Kei Ai gained notoriety following the purchase after numerous repeat violations of COVID safety protocols and the deaths of 115 of its residents from COVID, the most in the state.
Yet the deaths themselves have never been investigated by state, local or federal authorities to the dismay of senior advocates and Rep Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park).
A report from the U.S. Health and Human Services found that the purchase by for-profit companies from non-profit entities of senior care facilities has led to a decline in the quality of care.
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