Pine Grove Faces Limits on Patient Care

Citing poor supervision at a West Hills psychiatric hospital where two teenage patients were assaulted, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health is planning to strip the private facility of its ability to treat some patients, officials said Wednesday.

Under such a mandate, Pine Grove Hospital would lose its ability to detain and treat mentally ill patients admitted involuntarily, said David Meyer, the agency’s chief deputy director. This could deprive the hospital of a significant portion of its Medi-Cal funding, he said.

“This is very, very severe business,” Meyer said. “We don’t undertake these things lightly. We only do it when we think the situation requires vigorous action.”

Pine Grove administrators will have 30 days to respond to the findings, which could lead to a less-severe ruling or a complete reversal of the county’s decision, officials said.

Larry McFarland, the administrator of the 80-bed hospital, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Law enforcement authorities have investigated five reported incidents of sexual molestation in the last three years involving Pine Grove patients and former patients. One incident took place away from the hospital.

Two former employees and a 17-year-old patient have since been convicted of sexually assaulting teenage girls they met at the hospital. Two other former employees were investigated for separate molestation allegations but were not prosecuted.

In concluding its own investigation of the hospital last week, the county Mental Health Department found “a pattern of shortcomings with respect to quality of care, especially with respect to the young people” at the hospital, Meyer said.

Meyer said the decision to limit patient care at the hospital was based on the molestation incidents and “a variety of other complaints that we received from families and parents.”

The county’s actions will not take effect until after the appeal process, but the agency began sending patients’ rights advocates to the hospital this week for daily monitoring visits.

The state Department of Health Services conducted an on-site investigation of Pine Grove last week to determine if it is fit to receive federal welfare funds. The department will release the results of its probe in November, spokeswoman Norma Arceo said.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations also has opened an inquiry.

All four victims in the reported incidents at the hospital were underage girls, according to hospital documents and police records. The most recent occurred Aug. 13, when a 17-year-old boy raped a 13-year-old fellow patient in her hospital bed.

This year, two hospitals -- Hollywood Community Hospital of Van Nuys and City of Angels Medical Center-Ingleside -- have been stripped of their ability to detain patients without their consent by the Mental Health Department. Officials alleged the hospitals released patients to unlicensed and unsafe boardinghouses.