Manse on Marsh owner was convicted of manslaughter. Now a new company wants to take over
The Manse on Marsh in San Luis Obispo is being sold to a company that operates senior living communities, a little more than six months after owner Christopher Skiff was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the death of a resident.
New signage for Avila Senior Living of Downtown SLO has been installed outside the business in the 400 block of Marsh Street, where a representative for Pacifica Senior Living Management confirmed Wednesday that a sale was underway.
Pacifica’s regional director of operations, Erica Face, declined to discuss specifics of the sale Wednesday, but told The Tribune that the transfer of ownership was not having any effects on residents’ care at the facility.
Face also declined to comment on when the sale was initiated or when it may finalize. She added that there were pending licensing issues with the state, as well.
According to its website, Pacifica Senior Living is a division of Pacifica Companies, a privately owned real state firm. Pacifica Senior Living says it operates senior communities in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
The Manse on Marsh was the subject of a years-long criminal case that culminated in the month-long trial of owner Christopher Skiff, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and elder abuse in December.
Skiff had pleaded not guilty to the two charges, along with the business’ former executive director, Gary Potts, in relation to the 2014 death of facility resident Mauricio Edgar Cardenas.
Cardenas had been diagnosed with dementia prior to his moving into The Manse on Marsh but was allowed to stay at the facility after a physician gave him a primary diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, which is associated with normal symptoms of aging and does not require additional licensing, according to testimony presented during the trial.
The 65-year-old Cardenas was struck by a car and killed on Dec. 21, 2014, as he crossed Los Osos Valley Road in the dark roughly 10 miles from the facility.
Though the CHP and the state Department of Social Services did not find The Manse on Marsh responsible for the resident’s death, the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse got involved following a complaint from a former employee, who told the agency’s lead investigator that the facility’s acceptance of residents with dementia was “an accident waiting to happen.”
The facility had previously been cited by the state Department of Social Services in 2007 and 2008 for accepting residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses despite not possessing the required licensing and dementia care plan for staff.
Though Skiff had faced up to eight years in state prison, he was sentenced in January to serve at least half a 180-day sentence in San Luis Obispo County Jail. In March, Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen approved Skiff’s application to stay his sentence pending his appeal, which Skiff filed March 4, according to court records.
Van Rooyen had previously denied Skiff’s motion for a new trial.
As a condition of Skiff’s convictions, he is prohibited from having any involvement in the day-to-day operations of any adult care facility.
Potts avoided a trial and accepted a plea agreement March 25, pleading no contest to felony elder abuse. A felony manslaughter charge was dismissed.
According to California Secretary of State records, Skiff’s Manse on Marsh business licenses remained active as of Wednesday. Phone numbers previously listed for Skiff were no longer in service Wednesday, and he was not immediately reachable for comment.
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 3:44 PM.