Judge's anger at Neglectful Nursing Home

Judge's anger as he accuses Bupa nursing home of putting cash before care as grandmother, 90, dies after neglect
A dementia patient was left to crawl naked around a filthy room in a Bupa care home because the manager was more interested in 'maximising profits and cutting costs', a court heard.
Joyce Farrow, 90, spent two months in the privately-run home before she was taken to hospital with a black eye and bruises.
She was also suffering from an infection and dehydration and died five days later. Doctors were so concerned about her condition that they called police.
Read more: Judge's anger as he accuses Bupa home of putting cash before care as grandmother, 90, dies after neglect | Mail Online

Sexual Abuse Allegations in Massachusetts

Another witness to horrific allegations of sexual abuse at the Hebert Nursing Home in Smithfield has come forward to the NBC 10 I-Team.
Tanya Lessard, a former certified nurse's assistant at the facility, said she saw two women in their 60s allegedly sexually molest their elderly mother on numerous occasions.
"I witnessed, seen plenty of times, that a couple of family members penetrated their mother. She's like 89 years old. A War vet. Very lovely lady," Lessard said.
Lessard filed a witness statement with the Smithfield police last week.
The I-Team recently reported there were other witnesses to the alleged behavior. The Smithfield police investigated and wanted the daughters charged, but state prosecutors declined.
"There is a lack of evidence to prosecute at this time," the attorney general's office said.
The Hebert Nursing Home said it has taken steps to protect the mother.
Lassard said she was fired from the Hebert Nursing Home because she kept complaining about the two daughters, but the nursing home told her she was fired because she kept showing up late for work.
Regarding the I-Team's investigation of the Pawtuxet Village Care and Rehabilitation Center, Dr. Michael Fine, the director of the state Department of Health, told NBC 10 exclusively that from now until March 9, there will be unannounced inspections at Pawtuxet Village.
The Health Department and the I-Team found numerous allegations of poor quality of care at the nursing home.
"We've not been overly impressed by their progress," Fine said.
Fine said his inspectors found troublesome deficiencies.
"Pain management and fall prevention and pressure ulcers, range of motion and I think in one case, weight loss," Fines said.
 http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2012/feb/28/i-team-witness-alleges-sexual-abuse-nursing-home-ar-947808/

nursing home accused of neglect

The Minnesota Department of Health has alleged the Golden LivingCenter nursing home in Hopkins was negligent in a case where a nursing home patient died last March.According to the department's report, which was released the week of Jan. 9, the man experienced significant weight loss over a period of a month in the care of the nursing home that was not reported to his primary physician or nurse practitioner.A spokesman for the center denies it did anything wrong.

Minnesota Local News - minnlocal.com > Headlines > Hopkins nursing home accused of neglect

government finds cases of abuse at care homes

Eleven care home workers in New Brunswick have been fired or left their jobs over the past two years after various violations were found including inappropriate sexual conduct and a blow to a resident's face, provincial government records say.
In eight cases, staff physically harmed elderly residents who  have mental or physical disabilities, according to a summary of elder abuse under the province's Family Services Act from Jan. 1, 2010, until September of last year.
"That is very alarming. Even one is too many," said Cecile Cassista, president of the Coalition for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents' Rights.
"There should be no room for that kind of treatment. ... There has to be zero tolerance."

Staff fired after New Brunswick government finds cases of abuse at care homes - Winnipeg Free Press

Depression drugs prescribed for dementia patients causing falls

The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology reports that the risk of injuries from elder falls has tripled. The Alzheimer's Society has since called for more research into alternative treatments.Dr. Carolyn Sterke recorded the daily drug use and records of nursing home falls in 248 nursing home residents over a two-year period. The average age of the patients in the study was 82. The records suggested that 152 of them had suffered a total of 683 falls.The consequences of falls were substantial. More than 200 cases resulted in injuries, including hip fractures and other broken bones. One resident died following a fall.
Depression drugs prescribed for dementia patients causing falls - Health & Wellness - Catholic Online

State Inspectors Lax on nursing homes

California nursing home inspectors fall short in following up on their own investigative findings, possibly enabling sustained neglect of nursing home residents or lax practices that can injure residents, according to a new federal report.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, identified shortcomings by the California Department of Public Health, which inspects the state's 1,150 nursing homes.
The report, issued last week, is the second in a series of federal examinations of California nursing home oversight. One review examines a case that limited federal overseers' ability to take action after inspectors discovered that maggots were coming out of a resident's ear.
Read more:State's follow-up on nursing home problems lacking, report says

Woman accused in Missouri nursing home fire

A southeast Missouri woman is facing arson charges for a November fire at a nursing home.The Dexter Daily Statesman reported that 59-year-old Joyce Johnson allegedly set fire to the bed of a 73-year-old woman at Golden Living Center-Dexter as the woman was asleep in the bed.Johnson is also charged with felony elder abuse. She is jailed on $35,000 bond and does not yet have a listed attorney.Dexter Police Chief Trevor Pulley says Johnson admitted using a lighter to start the fire, though she says she did not intend to hurt anyone. No one was badly hurt in the fire
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/23/3386542/woman-accused-in-missouri-nursing.html#storylink=cpy

ROSCOMMON EXTENDED CARE CENTER: Deficiency Report

Date Deficiency Scope Level of Harm


04/01/2009 Give professional services that meet a professional standard of quality. Pattern Minimal harm or potential for actual harm

04/01/2009 Give professional services that follow each resident's written care plan. Isolated Minimal harm or potential for actual harm

04/01/2009 Store, cook, and give out food in a safe and clean way. Pattern Minimal harm or potential for actual harm

05/06/2008 Give professional services that meet a professional standard of quality. Isolated Minimal harm or potential for actual harm
05/06/2008 Give professional services that follow each resident's written care plan. Isolated Minimal harm or potential for actual harm

05/06/2008 Have drugs and other similar products available, which are needed every day and in emergencies, and give them out properly. Isolated Minimal harm or potential for actual harm
05/06/2008 Properly mark drugs and other similar products. Isolated Minimal harm or potential for actual harm


ROSCOMMON EXTENDED CARE CENTER: Deficiency Report

Nurse at Nursing Home charged with neglect

A Cumberland County grand jury has indicted a former nurse at a Burkesville nursing home on charges of elder neglect and theft of a controlled substance, according to Attorney General Jack Conway.Jinger Butler, 41, is accused of replacing and retaining the medications of 10 adult residents from May to November of 2010, when she was acting as a caretaker at Cumberland Valley Manor Nursing Home in Burkesville, a statement from Conway's office said. Butler was indicted on 11 counts of neglect, a Class C felony with a penalty of five to 10 years.Butler's conduct, according to the indictment, deprived each resident of services necessary to maintain the health and welfare of the patient, constituting knowing neglect of an adult.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/24/2040039/ex-burkesville-nursing-home-nurse.html#storylink=cpy
Nurse who worked at Burkesville facility charged with neglect, theft Voiceless & Vulnerable: Nursing Home Abuse Kentucky.com

Home health industry fights proposal to require minimum wage

Home health care companies are leading the fight against an Obama administration proposal to require them to pay their workers the minimum wage, despite data showing that the industry was one of the few nationally to maintain profits during the worst of the recession.
One of the industry's leading companies, Home Instead Senior Care, spent at least $362,000 in 2011 fighting the proposal while it also touts an 18.8 yield ratio of investment to revenue, which was the highest in the group reviewed by the magazine Franchise Business Review.
A spokesman for Home Instead sent a news release from the Private Duty Homecare Association stating that the proposed rules would cut employees' hours and, ultimately, hurt caregivers.
Home health companies have been more profitable in the past two years, even as other businesses have been hit hard by the economy,
"In home health care, you can't even tell you had a recession," Lubansky said.
The minimum wage is now $7.25 an hour.
A Labor Department proposal issued in December would require home health care companies to follow federal wage and hour laws regarding their workers.
Changing the rules, industry officials say, would damage the quality of care.
Most home health care payments come from private insurance or the family of the person needing care, said Gale Bohling, director of government relations for the National Private Duty Association. Requiring them to pay minimum wage and overtime could hurt a population that would rather stay home than go to nursing home care, he said.
Many workers also have advanced training, such as certified nursing assistants."It does differ from a kid working at McDonald's for minimum wage," Smith said.
Home health industry fights proposal to require minimum wage – USATODAY.com

Nursing Home patients in 'immediate jeopardy' |

Saying they have found nursing home violations that constituted "immediate jeopardy" to elderly nursing home patients at the Hebert Nursing Home on Log Road, federal and state health officials have given the 133-bed facility until Feb. 1 to make corrections or they will terminate it as a Medicare and Medicaid provider for skilled nursing care.
Additionally, the U.S. agency dealing with Medicare and Medicaid services has been fining the facility $5,500 a day since Dec. 22 and has imposed a denial of payments for any new admissions after Jan. 23.

Hebert Nursing Home patients in 'immediate jeopardy' The Valley Breeze

care giver facing abuse charges

A CARE home worker has been accused of abuse against elderly patients.Janice Glover faces eight separate charges covering a two year period when she worked at Ayr’s Claremont Nursing Home.She denies the charges, however, has been sacked from her job at plush Bupa run Claremont, which specializes in the care of dementia patients.It is alleged that between May 1, 2010 and November 30 that year, Glover assaulted an elderly nursing home patient by handling her chest.It is further alleged that between July 2, 2009 and February 1, 2011, Glover ill-treated an elder patient by repeatedly striking him on the ears with her fingers, inserting a pen into his ears, repeatedly instructing staff not to care for him when he had fallen, making him sleep in a chair overnight when there was no medical need to do so and repeatedly swearing and making offensive remarks towards him.The third charge states that Glover ill-treated another male patient by repeatedly swearing and making remarks of a sexual nature towards him between July 2, 2009 and February 18 2011.
Claremont carer facing catalogue of abuse charges.

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/