Teen dies in SLO County facility, cold before anyone noticed

June 24, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

A Paso Robles teen died at a San Luis Obispo County mental health facility in May, though it would be hours before anyone noticed. After complaining for months about mismanagement at the facility, the teen’s death prompted four employees to hand in their notices.

Following the deaths of several mentally ill patients, including Andrew Holland, in 2018 the county opened a crisis stabilization unit. The unit was supposed to “allow medical professionals to stabilize up to four community members at a time who are experiencing a serious mental health issue.”

SLO County outsources management of the unit to Sierra Mental Wellness Group, which has refused to discuss allegations of misconduct and the teen’s death. A handful of current and former employees of the unit spoke with a CalCoastNews reporter. They asked that their names not be listed in the article to protect their employment.

In Nov. 2023, an employee at the unit asked her supervisor why they were admitting people who did not qualify to stay at the unit because of a variety of reasons. A few days later, management removed policies and procedures from the policy and procedure binder.

Even so, an employee continued to randomly check to make sure the battery for the defibrillator was working. Earlier this year, the employee discovered the battery was dead and informed a supervisor who allegedly chastised the employee for checking the device.

Even so, a new battery was ordered though it was not taken out of the box.

On May 15, emergency medical personnel transported 19-year-old Elina Branco of Paso Robles to French Hospital Medical Center because of a drug overdose. At the hospital, medical personnel gave the teen multiple doses of Narcan.

Twelve hours later, at 1 p.m., medical staff transported the teen to the SLO County Crisis Stabilization Unit.

Even though staff members voiced concerns over the teen’s admission to the unit because of her medical issues, a supervisor allegedly said she would sleep it off and that they would check on her in the morning. The two day shift workers arrived at 7:30 a.m. the next morning.

At 9 a.m., an employee noticed the teen was not breathing and that her body was cold. The employee called for the defibrillator, but the battery was dead. The teen did not survive.

“She would still be alive if not admitted to the crisis stabilization unit,” an employee said. “It is so bad the clients are in danger. There are no policies and procedures to review.”

Prior to the teen’s death, staff was required to do a check on patients every two hours through the unit’s video monitoring system, according to employees. Since the teen’s death, staff now does in-person checks every 15 minutes.

Shortly after the facility first opened in 2018, employees began complaining of mismanagement and failures to follow the law.

For example, the unit is a 24-hour facility, and is only permitted to keep patients for up to 72 hours under limited circumstances, a requirement staff says is frequently ignored.

“Its all about keeping people in there, all about the numbers,” an employee said. “It is a mental health facility, though they allow people with serious physical health issues.”

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating the death.

Please call reporter Karen Velie at (805) 234-1703 if you have further information about the teen’s death or issues at the SLO County Crisis Stabilization Unit.