The California Department of Public Health and the state's Department of Health Care Services approved Laguna Honda's recertification for Medicaid, the federal program to provide free or low-cost health coverage to low-income people that is administered in the state as Medi-Cal.
Mayor London Breed's office said that more than 95 percent of Laguna Honda's patients rely on Medicaid funding and that the facility represents more than 30 percent of all skilled nursing beds in the city.
In April 2022, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) terminated Laguna Honda's participation in Medicare and Medicaid provider programs, threatening the closure of the hospital after more than 150 years in operation, according to the mayor's office.
Federal and state regulators cited safety concerns at Laguna Honda and required the hospital to move all 700 patients out of the facility, while also removing its Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements.
Drug paraphernalia in the facility, a lack of infection prevention and control, and missed doses of medication were among the cited concerns. A deadline to involuntarily discharge patients was extended until this September, ahead of Wednesday's recertification.
