Trabuco Hills Post Acute: Missing Belongings After Transfer - CA
The resident's cellphone, eyeglasses, and wallet containing his driver's license were gone. As of the inspection date, they had not been returned.
Inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services visited the Lake Forest facility on May 27, 2026, following a complaint. What they documented was straightforward: a resident transferred to an acute care hospital on May 11, his belongings left behind, and a facility that could not account for any of them.
The resident, identified in inspection records only as Resident 1, had been admitted to Trabuco Hills at some point before the transfer. A possessions form dated May 7 listed his clothing, cellphone, and eyeglasses. The wallet with the driver's license wasn't on the form at all. The section of that same form designated for discharge was left completely blank.
The transfer paperwork told a similar story. The facility's own transfer form included a section specifically for documenting which personal belongings were sent with the resident to the hospital. There were multiple checkboxes. None of them had been checked.
Family Member 1, reached by phone on May 21, told inspectors that when the facility called her about a bed hold, she informed staff that her relative would not be returning. She asked specifically about the cellphone, eyeglasses, and wallet. Staff told her to come in. She came in. Staff could not find anything.
The social services designee, identified as SSD 3, told inspectors on May 22 that she had been in contact with the family and was still searching the facility. She said the facility would try to locate the items on the inventory list and would reimburse the resident for anything they couldn't find.
The director of nursing said the same thing when inspectors interviewed her on May 27. The facility would reimburse for missing items listed on the inventory. She was aware the social services designee was still looking.
The facility's own written policy, dated December 2022, stated that all personal items would be inventoried at admission, that additional items brought in later would be added to the list, and that following discharge, all belongings would be given to the resident's representative. The policy was clear. The wallet was never added to the inventory. The discharge section was never filled out. Nobody checked the boxes on the transfer form.
Three weeks after the transfer, the cellphone, eyeglasses, and wallet had not been located.
The inspection cited the deficiency at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm. That classification reflects the regulatory scale, not the practical reality for a person discharged from a hospital without their glasses, their phone, or any identification.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Trabuco Hills Post Acute from 2026-05-27 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: August 12, 2026 · Our methodology
TRABUCO HILLS POST ACUTE in LAKE FOREST, CA was cited for violations during a health inspection on May 27, 2026.
The resident's cellphone, eyeglasses, and wallet containing his driver's license were gone.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.