Irvine-based, national chain Silverado Senior Living Management Inc., as well as three of its previous managers, have been charged in connection with fourteen COVID-19-related deaths at a residential care facility in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles, District Attorney George Gascón announced today.
The investigation into Silverado Beverly Place began after the facility reported the April 20, 2020, death of a 32-year-old employee, Brittany Ringo, according to Gascon.
"As required by the protocols at the time, the facility was closed to outside visitors by Silverado in March of 2020," Gascón said at a news conference. "Yet, despite these protocols, an exception was made to admit a patient from New York."
"Ms. Ringo died from COVID-19 after being exposed while working as a licensed vocational nurse for Silverado when she was directed on March 19, 2020, to admit this new resident who came directly to the facility from the airport. This individual had just arrived from a clinical setting in New York, a COVID-19 hot-spot at the time."
The district attorney said the new resident, who started showing COVID-19 symptoms the morning after arriving, and tested positive that evening, had not immediately been tested for COVID-19. Nor had they been required to quarantine in isolation prior to admission, as required by health protocols in place at the time, according to Gascon.