Skyler A. Womack was a dependent adult with physical and developmental disabilities. In January 2020, he was admitted as an inpatient at a 24-hour skilled nursing facility called Asistencia Villa Rehabilitation and Care Center in Redlands, then operated by Silverscreen Healthcare, Inc. Skyler died on October 29, 2020, while still residing at Asistencia.
Following his death, Skyler’s parents and heirs, plaintiffs Jonie A. Holland and Wayne D. Womack, filed suit against Silverscreen. Plaintiffs’ complaint asserted four causes of action: (1) dependent adult abuse under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Welfare and Institutions Code, section 15600 et seq. (Elder Abuse Act); (2) negligence; (3) violation of residents’ rights under Health and Safety Code, section 1430, subdivision (b); and (4) wrongful death.
Plaintiffs alleged that Silverscreen failed to protect Skyler from “multiple falls with injury, and infections which caused him pain and suffering and were substantial factors in his untimely demise.” Plaintiffs also alleged that Silverscreen failed to “employ an adequate number of qualified personnel to carry out all of the functions of the facility”; failed to “keep[] its facility in good repair at all times”; failed to “correct deficiencies issued by the State of California’s Department of Public Health”; and failed to “provid[e] [Skyler] with good nutrition and necessary fluids for hydration.”
On admission to Asistencia, Skyler had signed a “Resident-Facility Arbitration Agreement.” The agreement provided for arbitration of malpractice claims, adhering to statutory language and formatting requirements for medical services contracts covering disputes as to the “professional negligence of a health care provider.” (§ 1295(a).) It stated that “any dispute as to medical malpractice, that is as to whether any medical services rendered under this contract were unnecessary or unauthorized or were improperly, negligently or incompetently rendered, will be determined by submission to arbitration.” (Quoting § 1295(a).) The agreement further provided — in its own language — that the agreement was “binding on all parties, including the Resident’s representatives, executors, family members, and heirs.”
Based on this agreement and the Supreme Court decision in Ruiz v. Podolsky (2010) 50 Cal.4th 838 (Ruiz), Silverscreen filed a motion to compel arbitration of each of the four causes of action asserted in the complaint. Plaintiffs opposed the petition. They argued that Ruiz did not apply because their wrongful death claim was based on Silverscreen’s “neglect,” as that term is defined under the Elder Abuse Act, and not its “professional negligence.”
The trial court granted Silverscreen’s motion to compel arbitration of the three survivor claims but denied the motion as to plaintiffs’ individual claim for wrongful death. Following the lead of the Court of Appeal in Avila v. Southern California Specialty Care, Inc. (2018) 20 Cal.App.5th 835, 843 (Avila), the trial court explained that although “[t]he complaint includes allegations that could be categorized as professional negligence as well as elder abuse,” plaintiffs “ ‘chose to plead a cause of action under the [Elder Abuse Act], and they did so successfully. The fact that they could have also pleaded a claim for medical malpractice, had they wished to do so, is irrelevant. Accordingly, . . . plaintiffs’ claim is not one within the ambit of section 1295, and therefore, Ruiz’s holding does not apply.’ ” (Quoting Avila, at p. 843.)
The Court of Appeal reversed. (Holland v. Silverscreen Healthcare, Inc. (2024) 101 Cal.App.5th 1125 (Holland).) The Court of Appeal acknowledged several appellate cases, including Avila, in which courts refused to compel arbitration of wrongful death claims predicated on allegations of neglect by nursing homes and similar residential care facilities. (Holland, supra, 101 Cal.App.5th at p. 1134). The Court of Appeal agreed with these cases insofar as they “confined Ruiz’s holding to wrongful death claims predicated on medical malpractice or professional negligence,” but it disagreed with the cases to the extent they might suggest that plaintiffs’ claim here falls outside Ruiz. (Holland, at p. 1134; see id. at pp. 1134–1135.).
The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal in the case of Holland v. Silverscreen Healthcare, Inc. -S285429.PDF (August 2025).
In Ruiz the Supreme Court identified an exception for certain wrongful death claims based on medical malpractice. If a patient agreed to arbitrate medical malpractice disputes in compliance with the arbitration provision of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) (codified as Code Civ. Proc., § 1295), the patient-provider agreement may bind the patient’s heirs in a wrongful death action, even if the heirs themselves never agreed to arbitration. (Ruiz, at pp. 849–850.).
The question before the Supreme Court here concerns the application of Ruiz in a recurring context. Plaintiffs sued a 24-hour skilled nursing facility, alleging that the facility’s neglect caused their son’s death. Before his death, plaintiffs’ son had signed an agreement to arbitrate medical malpractice disputes against the facility. Parting company with appellate courts that had taken different approaches to the issue, the Court of Appeal in this case held that the patient-provider agreement binds plaintiffs because their wrongful death claim based on the nursing facility’s neglect is necessarily a claim about the manner in which a health care provider rendered its professional services.
The Supreme Court concluded that “the Court of Appeal’s decision in this case extends Ruiz past statutory bounds. Ruiz does not apply to every type of wrongful death claim that might be brought against a health care provider – particularly a provider that, like the skilled nursing facility in this case, provides both medical care and day-to-day custodial care of dependent adults. Under Ruiz, plaintiffs’ claim must be submitted to arbitration only if they are raising a dispute about medical malpractice as that term is defined in MICRA’s arbitration provision – that is, a dispute “ ‘as to whether any medical services . . . were improperly, negligently or incompetently rendered.’ ” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1295, subd. (a) (§ 1295(a)).) Ruiz does not require plaintiffs to arbitrate their disputes about a facility’s neglect of a resident’s basic welfare and safety needs.”
“To the extent the plaintiffs’ complaint in this case fails to detail whether they are alleging deficiencies in the nursing facility’s rendering of medical services or instead in its provision of custodial care, we conclude that they should be permitted to amend their complaint to specify.”
“We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal and remand for further proceedings.”