Los Angeles County Hoyer Lift Injury Lawyers: Protecting Residents Hurt During Patient Transfers

Moving a frail resident from bed to chair, to the toilet, or into the shower takes skill, the right equipment, and enough staff Nursing Home Law Group have spent more than 25 years representing individuals and families victimized by neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living communities, including in Los Angeles County. If a Hoyer lift or another transfer left someone you love injured, our Los Angeles County Hoyer Lift injury lawyers can help you learn what happened. We represent families in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, Torrance, and throughout the county.

Experience you can check. The attorneys at Nursing Home Law Group have been recognized as Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and have won award for their advocacy.

Civil cases are filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, is the hub for unlimited civil cases in the Central District. Since January 8, 2024, personal injury cases filed in the Central District are assigned for all purposes to an independent calendar department at Stanley Mosk, instead of a personal injury hub court, so one judge handles a case from start to finish.

A Hoyer lift uses a sling and hoist to move residents who cannot stand or bear weight. Used correctly, it protects residents and staff. The danger comes from misuse, poor maintenance, and understaffing. Residents are also hurt in manual lifts, stand-assist transfers, slide-board moves, and wheelchair or shower-chair transfers. Common causes include:

• The wrong sling, device, or lift for the resident
• Improper sling placement or attachment
• One caregiver doing a transfer that policy or the manufacturer calls for two people to do
• Casters or brakes left unlocked, or a lift base that is damaged
• Staff who were never trained or checked for competency
• Rushing because of short staffing
• Ignoring the care plan or transfer assessment

The injuries can include falls and drops, fractures of the hip, femur, arm, wrist, or shoulder, dislocations, head injuries, and skin tears. For frail residents, complications can follow and may be fatal.

Los Angeles County has about 1,800 licensed assisted living communities (residential care facilities for the elderly, or RCFEs), according to 2026 data compiled from state licensing records. With a county this large, where a case is filed and how it is assigned can matter as much as what happened in the room.

Nursing home complaints go to the state health department’s (CDPH) licensing office, and assisted living complaints go to Community Care Licensing. You can also call the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. A report creates an official record and does not prevent you from taking legal action.

Our Los Angeles County Hoyer lift injury lawyers start with the records that show how a resident was moved: the care plan, transfer assessment, incident report, staffing schedules, training files, and equipment maintenance logs. Where equipment may have failed, we look at the manufacturer and any maintenance contractor, as well as the facility and its operators. We also review admission paperwork for arbitration agreements, which can affect where and how a case is heard.

An 88-year-old woman resides in a Los Angeles County skilled nursing facility. She is moved with a mechanical lift whose base casters were not locked and whose sling shows wear. The lift tips, she falls, and she fractures her hip. The facility says the equipment “is fine.”

We would request the lift’s maintenance logs and the sling’s history, along with the care plan and staffing records, and we would ask whether the facility reported the incident. If the case went forward, we would file in the appropriate Los Angeles Superior Court location and, if her health required it, ask for trial preference under Code of Civil Procedure §36, which generally requires a trial date within 120 days once granted.

• Long-Term Care Ombudsman: WISE & Healthy Aging, (800) 334-9473; statewide CRISISline (800) 231-4024
• CDPH Los Angeles County office (nursing homes): (800) 228-1019 [VERIFY: which district office covers the facility]
• Community Care Licensing (assisted living): [VERIFY: regional office serving the facility’s location]
• Adult Protective Services (residents outside licensed facilities): (877) 477-3646

Yes. Time limits apply, and they vary with the claim and the facts. Because records and equipment can change or disappear, speak with an attorney as soon as you can. A Los Angeles County patient lift injury lawyer can tell you which deadlines apply, and Hoyer Lift injury lawyers in Los Angeles County can move quickly to preserve evidence.

For more than 25 years, Nursing Home Law Group has stood up for residents and families harmed by neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living communities. Call our Los Angeles County Hoyer Lift injury lawyers at Nursing Home Law Group, (866) 607-1325.