Health department verifies neglect at Sartell's Country Manor

The Minnesota Department of Health has substantiated a case of nursing home neglect that occurred at a Sartell nursing home, it was announced Wednesday.
A resident at Country Manor Health & Rehab Center fractured his pelvis in a nursing home fall after being left unattended on the toilet with an alarmed motion monitor, according to the complaint. The man was described in the report as having osteoarthrosis, diabetes mellitus and dementia, and had a history of falls. Health department verifies neglect at Sartell's Country Manor St. Cloud TIMES sctimes.com:

Worst Massachusetts Nursing Homes mentionned

According to USA Today, 3 Massachusetts Nursing Homes have been included on the Governments list of lowest rated Nursing Homes:

- Calvin Coolidge Nuring & Rehab Ctr - Northampton	Northampton	MA
- Springside Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center	Pittsfield	MA
- Wingate At Wilbraham Rehab & Skilled Nurs Resid	Wilbraham	MA

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-10/nursing-home-federal-ratings/53031094/1?csp=obinsite

Nurse Aide fired for Elder Abuse

A certified nursing assistant at a Grand Marais nursing home was cited for elder abuse for pulling two residents by the arms and speaking to one in a “disrespectful manner,” according to a state report made public on Wednesday.

The facility, Cook County North Shore Hospital and Care Center, was cited for procedural failings in relation to the incident, according to public records from the Minnesota Department of Health.
The employee, who wasn’t named, was suspended during an internal investigation that began June 2; she later was fired due to “lack of respect” for residents, the report said. An unannounced follow-up visit on Nov. 17 determined the facility had corrected its deficiencies, it added.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/223150/group/homepage/

Family files $15 million wrongful death suit against Nursing Home

Family members filed a $15 million wrongful death lawsuit against a local nursing home on Wednesday. The complaint says Erwin Health Care Center in Unicoi County waited days before notifying a doctor or family members that one of their patients was “comatose.”
"This is a classic example of pure neglect,” attorney for the plaintiff Parke Morris said. “He was just forgotten."
Morris said William Warden, 93, entered Erwin Health Care Center on March 8th, 2011.
On March 28th, he weighed 162 pounds.
The lawsuit suggests Warden was in good health on April 25th when he visited with Alan Altizer and had a “pleasant conversation.”
But Warden's medical notes indicated a decline on May 2nd. They described him as "comatose."
Morris said no one notified a doctor – or the Warden Family – for two full days.
"If this had happened to an animal, we'd have the SPCA out demanding that a full investigation be done,” Morris said. “Here, it's just swept under the rug because it's a bunch of old people."
Family files $15 million wrongful death suit against Erwin Health Care TriCities.com

Belleville nursing home negligent in 77-year-old resident's death

The 77-year-old nursing home resident who walked away from a Belleville nursing home last month and later died in the cold had wandered off from the facility two times in the weeks and months before his final disappearance, according to an inspection report released Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Despite these previous attempts, Aubrey Giles, who suffered from dementia, kidney failure and heart disease, was not wearing a patient monitoring device Jan. 14 when he left Midwest Rehabilitation and Respiratory Care, 727 N. 17th St., the report states.The report also states that Giles' care plan -- the set of services staff is supposed to provide the patient for their proper care -- "does not address (Giles') exit seeking behaviors and elopement attempts, and goals and interventions to address these behaviors."

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2012/02/11/2053992/report-nursing-home-was-negligent.html#storylink=cpy

State: Belleville nursing home negligent in 77-year-old resident's death - Belleville news - bnd.com

Former nursing home employee speaks out about abuse

A former nursing home employee said she was a witness to the elder abuse and neglect.

Ex-Brandon Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center employee who we'll call "Ann" worked as a certified nursing assistant at the facility for about six weeks.

"while I worked there I reported several cases of abuse," said Ann.

The health professional said she left after repeatedly seeing elderly patients neglected, left for hours in their waste and treated cruelly.

"I witnessed a gentleman fall out of his wheelchair and I witnessed one of the other aides that I was shadowing pull his shirt up over his head and when she did that his head bounced and hit the floor," said the certified nursing assistant.

The 30 year old wife and mother said she told her supervisors about the abuses but nothing was ever done.

She was disturbed by the sight of 74 year old Tommi Lovern's injuries.

"I definitely believe what the people are saying," said Ann.

"My dad was fine until he went to that nursing home. He was in his right mind and it's like he went down and down and down from there," said Renee Guy Thomas.

Former nursing home employee speaks out about a - Flash Player Installation

Sexual abuse of elderly resident at Nursing Home investigated

Workers at the Hebert Nursing Home have told health authorities and police that they witnessed, and reported in vain many times, what they consider a disturbing pattern of long-term abuse, with sexual overtones, of a mentally impaired resident. Reports from government health agencies indicate that the resident - an 89-year-old woman - for months was subjected to digital penetration of her private parts, and other indignities, by her two daughters.
Sexual abuse of elderly resident at Hebert Nursing Home investigated | The Valley Breeze

Nursing Assistants Charged with Abusing Elders

Two former employees of Central Coast Nursing Center — recently stripped of its operating license after state officials discovered widespread health and safety violations at the Santa Barbara nursing home — have been arrested on sexual battery and elder abuse charges. Central Coast Nursing Center, located at 3880 Via Lucero, has a capacity of 154 residents and is one of the county’s largest long-term care locations.
Brian Watt, a 29-year-old Ventura resident and registered sex offender, was arrested on September 9, charged with felony lewd act upon a dependent adult, felony sexual battery on an institutionalized victim, and misdemeanor dependent adult abuse. According to the California Department of Justice, which spearheaded the investigation, the charges are related to an incident that took place on September 4, 2010. Mary Barron with the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office explained that if Watt is convicted on all counts, he could face up to six years in prison.
The Santa Barbara Independent Nursing Assistants Charged with Abusing Elders#commenttoggle

Nursing Homes Face Fines For Resident Injuries in CT

Two nursing homes, in West Haven and Waterbury, face fines from the state for incidents in which staff members reportedly were abusive towards residents, while four other homes have been cited for other care lapses that led to resident injuries.
Administrators of both Paradigm Healthcare Center of West Haven and Abbott Terrace Health Center in Waterbury told state Department of Health inspectors that they terminated the employees involved in the alleged incidents of elder abuse.
Paradigm faces a $650 fine in connection with an incident in which four nursing employees held down a resident during a procedure, in a way that “did not follow the facility’s protocol for providing care in a dignified manner,” a DPH report says. Paradigm also was cited for failing to provide pain medication promptly to a patient, and for not properly monitoring another resident who was dehydrated and who suffered broken ribs while in the nursing home.
Abbott Terrace faces a $755 fine after an incident in which a nurse’s aide treated a resident in a rough manner that may have caused the patient to hit his or her head on a bedrail, a state report says. The aide was terminated because of the incident. The home also was cited for three other incidents involving injuries to residents, including one who suffered a leg fracture.
Other nursing homes fined by the state DPH in January include:
• Rose Haven of Litchfield was fined $710 after a resident sustained a leg fracture while being moved from a bed to a wheelchair without proper supervision by a physical therapist.Nursing Homes Face Fines For Resident Injuries | CT Health I-Team

Worst Nursing Homes remain on Government Rating List.

More than 560 of the nation's nursing homes have not budged for the past three years from a one-star federal government rating — the lowest on a five-star scale — even as most homes improved, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal data.

In Georgia, more than one in 10 nursing homes have consistently received one star in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rating. Pennsylvania and Louisiana each had 8% of homes at the lowest rating. "Nobody wants to see consistent one-stars; they give everybody a bad name," says Larry Minnix, president and CEO of LeadingAge, an association of non-profit nursing homes. "You'd like to think the marketplace would deal with it and residents wouldn't get placed there, but sometimes they don't have a choice."

INTERACTIVE: See ratings for 15,000 nursing homes

The lowest overall rating is awarded to nursing homes "much below average" compared with others in their state, according to CMS. Among problems that can drop a rating: consistently dirty equipment and linens, elder mistreatment and unlicensed caregivers or specialists.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-10/nursing-home-federal-ratings/53031094/1

Hospital Acquired Infections -- Massachusetts Stats

New data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that Massachusetts has the 14th lowest/best rate among the 50 states in the incidence of one of the most serious and deadly types of hospital acquired infections (HAIs). Kaiser News has a good summary here. In 2009, there were 41,000 central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in U.S. hospitals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These infections happen when narrow tubes are inserted in a major vein to inject medicine or fluids or to perform tests. Each one, according to CMS, adds about $17,000 in costs to a hospital stay, and about one fourth of patients who get the infection die from it. And, if hospitals follow recommended guidelines, the infection is almost entirely preventable. As part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA/ObamaCare -- section 3008), hospitals with excessively high rates of preventable HAIs (e.g.: these infections) will soon face significant financial penalties from CMS.

Hospital Acquired Infections -- How Does Massachusetts Stack Up? - Health Stew - Boston.com

Verdict in Nursing Home Cover Up

A Jefferson Circuit Court jury on Monday awarded $8 million in damages to the estate of a retired surgeon whose legs were broken while he was in the care of Treyton Oak Towers in Louisville.
Attorneys William Garmer and Matt Minner said that Dr. David Griffin died less than two months after he was improperly transferred from a chair into his bed — and that Treyton Oak tried to cover up what happened.
“We got justice today and are thrilled for our clients and thrilled for the elderly citizens of Louisville,” Minner said in an interview.
Minner said after Grifffin’s legs were broken in the September 2008 incident, he was put back in bed “like it didn’t happen” and employees were ordered to change medical records and cover the incident up.
Because of a stroke, Griffin couldn’t tell anybody “about the agony he was in,” Minner said.
After being found with two broken bones on Sept. 24, 2008, he was treated at a hospital and later transferred to a different nursing home. He died Nov. 3.
Scott Whonsetler, who defended Treyton Oak Towers, said it would appeal.
“We are profoundly, profoundly disappointed that we were unable to convey to the jury how much we cared for this man,” he said in an interview. Whonsetler also said “we categorically deny that there was any coverup whatsoever” and said no abuse or neglect was ever substantiated.
Whonsetler said Griffin had severe osteoporosis and doctors failed to inform nursing home employees of this diagnosis. Whonsetler said it is unknown exactly how Griffin’s legs were broken.
The verdict was returned after the jury deliberated for about two hours and included $2 million for pain and suffering, $1 million for violating the state nursing home statute and $5 million in punitive damages.
The plaintiffs claimed Griffin was transferred without a lift and by only one nursing assistant, in violation of the nursing home’s care plan, which required two assistants.
That was disputed by the nursing home. No one answered a phone call to the nursing home.
Griffin was in his mid-80s and had retired many years before he was injured, Garmer said.
He had been a patient in Treyton Oak Tower’s skilled residential facility.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120213/NEWS01/302130089/-8-million-verdict-returned-against-Louisville-nursing-home?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Forcing nursing home owners to be accountable

Today's editorial in Tampa highlights the attempt by many nursing home owners to escape accountability for violating safety regulations for the elderly.
"Every nursing home should be legally and financially responsible for what happens to its vulnerable residents. But nursing home owners are too often missing in action. They avoid legal liability by structuring ownership interests in ways so convoluted that it is often impossible to hold anyone accountable. And with that lack of accountability has come deteriorating care. The situation has long been known by government regulators and consumer advocates, but it wasn't until passage of President Barack Obama's health care reform that federal law seriously began to address the issue. The Affordable Care Act forces more transparency on nursing home owners in ways that should help protect Florida's elderly. Tampa Bay Times staff writer Stephen Nohlgren recently examined one egregious case of a nursing home using elaborately layered ownership to evade lawsuits for abuse and neglect......
Make nursing home owners more accountable - Tampa Bay Times

Nursing home neglect

A private nursing home chain enforced such strict rations on diapers that staff wrapped residents in towels and plastic garbage bags to keep their beds dry.
A resident at a Bradford home who was prone to falls was left alone on a toilet. The resident fell and sustained a head injury.
Residents in a Hamilton home had untreated bedsores and were famished from lack of food.
An elderly woman with a broken thighbone in a Pickering nursing home suffered for days without treatment.
A Brantford home was so short staffed that residents frequently missed their weekly baths.
Eight years after an Ontario government promise to revolutionize nursing home care, the elderly are still suffering neglect and abuse.
Responding to Thursday’s front page Toronto Star story on the rape of one senior in a home, allegedly by a male nurse, Health minister Deb Matthews has called an emergency meeting at her office with nursing home leaders Friday to find out what is going wrong in the publicly funded system.
“I need to have a very, very serious conversation with them,” Matthews said.
“(Homes) have a duty to report (assaults and abuse.) I need to know they are following the law. We have zero tolerance for homes that break the rules.”
The Star’s investigation draws from material uncovered by a new inspection system created by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in July 2010. It has since investigated 2,993 complaints and critical incidents, like broken bones or assaults.
We analyzed more than 1,500 of those inspection reports and found at least 350 cases of neglect where residents were left in soaking diapers, suffered untreated injuries, bedsores, dehydration, weight loss or were put at risk from outdated care plans that ignored changing medical needs. Other reports, scrutinized for Thursday’s story, focused on abuse.
Today the Star probes the issue of neglectful treatment of home residents.
The reports reveal that many families have no idea what their loved ones are subjected to. Inspectors found that some homes do not disclose problems to the ministry or police.
For example, Hallowell House in Picton, owned by the private chain Revera Long Term Care, did not immediately notify families of four residents to say their loved ones had suffered “neglect related to their continence care,” according to a ministry report from a September 2010 inspection.
The neglect stemmed from a staff member who skipped a room during rounds, Janet Ko, Revera’s vice president of communications, said in an email.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1088858--nursing-home-neglect

Doctors admit they lie to patients and hide mistakes

Great article in the Boston Globe showing the survey results from Doctors: Many admit to lying to patients and "covering up" mistakes.
"Most physicians paint overly optimistic prognoses for their patients, and many doctors have told lies or withheld information concerning their medical mistakes and financial relationships with drug companies and device manufacturers, according to a national survey conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.
The 2009 survey of nearly 1,900 doctors, published today in the journal Health Affairs, shows that many doctors don’t adhere to the standards of medical societies and accreditation groups, which have long required doctors to be honest and open with their patients.
Doctors admit they lie to patients and hide mistakes, survey reveals