Mt. Hood Senior Living agrees to find new owner in settlement with Oregon DHS
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Months after a resident died outside of a senior living facility in Sandy, its owner has agreed to hand the business over.
The owner of Mt. Hood Senior Living is required to help the facility find a new operator by Dec. 1, according to a settlement they reached with the Oregon Department of Human Services in late July. The current operator’s license is set to expire on Jan. 31, 2025.
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Prior to the settlement, Oregon’s Office of Administrative Hearings had scheduled a case hearing over the owner’s license suspension earlier this year.
ODHS issued Mt. Hood Senior Living an order of immediate suspension in January, when officials revealed the facility had committed eight violations related to the health and wellbeing of its residents.
State watchdogs said the business “failed to provide a safe environment,” referring to the death of resident Ki Soon “Harmony” Hyun.
The 83-year-old woman was reported missing after wandering out of the facility on Christmas Eve 2023. The next day, she was found in a wooded area about a half-mile away from her residence — where it was later determined she died of hypothermia.
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In addition to this incident, ODHS said Mt. Hood Senior Living failed to adhere to food sanitation rules, properly train its employees, oversee its medication system and follow medical professionals’ orders for residents.
Officials also alleged the facility didn’t adequately monitor its residents, one of whom was left with a fractured back after falling four times in four days.
According to the settlement with the human services department, the recent agreement does not prevent state or federal agencies from filing claims against the senior care center.
But while ODHS has cracked down on Mt. Hood Senior Living, other officials have determined the regulators didn’t properly handle their response to the facility’s multiple violations.
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In April, Oregon’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman asserted the ODHS “did not appear to recognize the collection of red flags in the Agency’s possession for at least the seven weeks prior to the December 25th tragedy.”
The ombudsman also said the agency “potentially traumatized the residents still living at the facility and their families” when it was forced to close immediately.
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