Kokoro Assisted Living

On 10/3/2025, Licensing Program Analyst(LPA) John Calandra arrived at the facility, to conduct a Case Management in regards to a Change in Management application. LPA was greeted by Angie Esplana, Business Office Director and explained the purpose of the visit. LPA Calandra spoke with the Operations Specialist, Jessica Quintana and Trevor Ogden regarding the Change in Management. A Change in Administrator will not occur until the Change in Management application has been processed by the Centralized Applications Bureau(CAB) unit. During the visit, LPA collected the facility's current LIC 500. No deficiencies were cited during today's visit. An exit interview was conducted and a copy of the report left emailed to facility representative.

On 09/22/2025, Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Jian conducted an unannounced Annual Required – 1 yr. inspection for this facility and was greeted by Staff, Julia Webb. Administrator, Chantelle Hudson & Business Office Director, Angie Esplana joined later during the visit. LPA conducted a tour of the facility with staff, facility found to be clean and at a comfortable temperature with all exits free from obstruction. Resident’s bedrooms, common areas, kitchen & food storage areas were inspected. Fire Extinguishers located on each resident floor, kitchen and common spaces were found to be charged. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and fire safety systems were present and recently serviced by fire inspection agency. There was a sufficient supply of both perishable and nonperishable foods as required, with food stored in the kitchen, sufficient for residents in care. Food supply is replenished constantly throughout the week and stored properly. Administrator stated no resident requested special diet. Cleaning supplies and other toxins are safely stored in locked closets throughout each floor, and housekeeping carts all of which were secured upon inspection. There was a supply of hygiene products and paper products available for residents. All resident’s bedrooms have lighting & appropriate furnishings and bedding items. Each stairwell exit is unlocked but has a auditory alarm when opened. Residents that were out in the community during the inspection were observed interacting with staff, fellow residents and visitors in the common areas. There is a single outdoor patio for resident use, all equipped with appropriate shading. Technical Violation issued for lack of documentation of one resident's refusal of annual medical assessment visit and technical violation issued for lack of documentation for the first quarterly emergency drill. A spot check of medications including narcotic was conducted and found that all medication counts and records to be in order. No deficiencies were cited. The report was reviewed and discussed with Administrator and Business Office Director. A copy of the report was left at the facility.

On March 12, 2024, Licensing Program Analyst(LPA) John Calandra arrived at the facility at 10:57 AM to conduct an unnanounced Case Management visit to assess a resident (R1), the facility had submitted a total care exception request for. LPA Calandra met with Naoko Jones, Executive Director and explained the purpose of his visit. LPA Calandra observed R1 during a pre-scheduled appointment and while R1 eating lunch in the common dining room with a member of the care staff. No deficiencies were cited during today's visit. This report was reviewed with Naoko Jones, Executive Director and a copy of the report left at the facility.

On March 8, 2024, Licensing Program Analyst(LPA) John Calandra arrived at the facility at 1:40 PM to conduct an unnanounced Case Management visit in regards to an Exception request submitted by the facility for a resident who the facility believes needs total care. LPA Calandra met with Angelina Esplana, Director of Marketing and Administration and explained the purpose of his visit. Executive Director, Naoko Jones and Sakae Hamilton, Director of Resident Care were off and unable to join the visit. LPA Calandra met and interviewed R1 to assess the resident. Further details can be found on the 812. LPA Calandra also interviewed staff tasked with caring for R1. No deficiencies were cited during today's visit. This visit will be continued at a later date. The report was reviewed with Angelina Esplana, Director of Marketing and Administration and a copy of the report left at the facility.

On 10/11/2022, Licensing Program Analyst(LPA) Murial Han conducted an unannounced annual inspection. LPA observed COVID-19 signs posted by the entrance. LPA was greeted by the Administrator, Naoko Jones. LPA explained the purpose of the visit and LPA was screened at the front entrance. The Director of Marketing and Administration provided a toured of the facility and grounds. This is a 6 story facility with resident apartments on all floors with 2 apartments reserved on the 1st floor for isolation purpose. No accessible bodies of water or fire safety hazards observed. Infection control practices are reviewed: entry procedures, daily screening records for staff, residents and visitors and staff training and policies. During the tour, LPA observed resident apartments are equipped with emergency call system next to the bed and the bathroom which can be activated from bedroom and bathroom and residents also wear a call pendant. LPA observed bathrooms are equipped with soap and paper towels, and hand washing instruction is posted by the hand washing stations. COVID-19 signs are posted through-out the facility, in the elevators and hand sanitizer stations/dispensers installed by the elevator. PPE supply is adequate and stored on the 5th floor. Residents are observed wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing during activities. Kitchen and food supplies are inspected. LPA observed refrigerator temperature measured at 28 degrees Fahrenheit (F) and freezer measured at -1 degree F. First-aid kit is inspected and complete. Medications, toxins and sharps are stored appropriately and inaccessible to resident, a comfortable temperature is maintained, lighting is sufficient for comfort and safety. The following updated licensing forms or information are requested to be submitted to CCLD BY 10/13/22: LIC309 (Administrative Responsibility and LIC 308 (Designation of Administrative Responsibility). No deficiency cited today. This report is reviewed and discussed with the Administrator. A copy is provided.

On 10/12/2021, Licensing Program Analyst(LPA) Murial Han conducted an unannounced annual inspection. LPA observed COVID-19 signs posted by the entrance. LPA was greeted by the Administrator, Naoko Jones. LPA explained the purpose of the visit and LPA was screened at the front entrance. The Administrator and the Resident Service Director provided a toured of the facility and grounds. No accessible bodies of water or fire safety hazards observed. Infection control practices are reviewed: entry procedures, staff training and policies, staff randomly testing records, resident and staff daily monitoring records, containment strategies (facility has reserved 2 private apartments with their own bathrooms and shower rooms on the first floor for isolation. quarantine purposes), PPE supply (the staff conducts weekly inventory count and the Resident Service Director orders the supplies accordingly on a weekly basis) and the environmental cleaning supply are adequate, bathrooms are equipped with soap and paper towels, and hand washing instruction is posted by the hand washing stations. Signs are posted through-out the facility. Residents are observed to be wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing during activities and meals. There are COVID-19 signs posted inside and outside of the elevator and hand sanitizer station outside. Medications, toxins and sharps are stored appropriately and inaccessible to resident, a comfortable temperature is maintained, lighting is sufficient for comfort and safety No deficiency cited today. This report is reviewed and discussed with the Administrator and the Resident Service Director. A copy is provided.

According to R1’s physician’s report, R1 is ambulatory and has no motor impairment. There was no special instruction in R1’s physician’s report for the facility to follow to prevent falls prior to incident. -- Staff leaving residents in soiled diapers for extended periods of time: According to administrator, continence care is provided to residents every 2 hours; hourly if a resident has a condition. Facility staff logs continence care provided in a chart inside the resident's apartment per administrator. According to facility records, continence care was provided to Resident 5 (R5) regularly for June 2019, as documented by facility staff. -- Staff was unable to locate a resident while in care: According to records review conducted, on August 23, 2019, CCL unsubstantiated a complaint allegation that Resident 4 (R4) left the facility unauthorized. According to R4’s physician’s report, R4 was able to leave the facility unattended, can communicate needs and follow instructions. According to facility records, R4 signed out prior to leaving the facility and signed in upon return. -- Staff failed to notify authorized representative of residents incidents: According to staff interviews, S1 stated that the person responsible for the resident is notified of incidents verbally. According to facility records, the May 31, 2018 fall incident was reported to the person responsible for the resident as documented by facility staff. -- Staff administered discontinued medication to a resident: According to Physicians Orders dated March 13, 2019, the medication FUROSEMIDE (aka LASIX) 40 mg is to be discontinued for R2. According to facility records, this medication was last administered to R2 around noon of March 2, 2019, as documented by facility staff. The allegations were deemed UNSUBSTANTIATED, meaning that although the allegation may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of the evidence to prove that the alleged violation occurred.

This agency has investigated the complaint alleging facility failed to conduct emergency preparedness drills. We have found that the complaint was unfounded, meaning that the allegation was false, could not have happened and/or is without a reasonable basis. We have therefore dismissed the complaint.

In addition, the staff members reported that most of the residents prefer chopsticks and they have not gotten any complaints from the residents regarding not having plastic utensils. During the interview with the residents, they validated that they prefer chopsticks over other utensils and one of them stated, " I always get what I want". Base on record review and interviews during the course of investigation, this allegation is unsubstantiated. Although the above investigations may have happened or are valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove the alleged violations did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is UNSUBSTANTIATED. Exit interview conducted with the facility's Administrator over the phone. The facility Administrator will receive this LIC9099 report through email to sign and email it back to LPA Han.