Pennsylvania's nursing homes are in crisis

Pennsylvania's nursing homes can no longer sustain themselves with the latest cuts to Medicaid, according to a health advocate for the elderly. Families who are likely to pick up the slack also are seeing their support threatened.

"Two-thirds of Pennsylvania's nursing home residents are on Medicaid, and for each one of them, a nursing home loses an average of $19.23 a day," said Dr. Stuart H. Shapiro, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association. "These shortfalls are unsustainable."
The proposed $102 million statewide cut in Medicaid funding would be felt at local nursing homes. The PHCA estimates the cuts will amount to more than $700,000 for nursing homes in Franklin County, $2 million in Cumberland, $800,000 in Adams, $100,000 in Fulton and $2.8 million in York.
Few nursing home administrators want to talk about it.
They have little room to cut expenditures, according to PHCA:
-- Staffing a nursing home around the clock makes up 70 percent of nursing home expenditures. At the same time, nursing homes are highly regulated and must meet minimum staffing requirements.
-- Nursing homes, whether nonprofit or for-profit, operate on the lowest margins of all health care sectors - less than 1 percent versus 5 percent for hospitals and home-health and managed-care companies.
"All health care providers lose money caring for those on Medicaid, but nursing homes suffer the most because they serve a much higher percentage of individuals on Medicaid," Shapiro said.
Nursing homes already have cut staff, reduced benefits, canceled renovations and delayed purchases, he said. Many are turning away people on Medicaid because the homes cannot afford to care for them.
Families will feel the emotional, physical and financial stress.

Pennsylvania's nursing homes are in crisis - Chambersburg Public Opinion

nursing home blamed for resident’s death

A Cy-Fair nursing home is being sued over claims its nursing home neglect caused the death of one of its residents.
Susan Evangelista, individually and on behalf of the deceased Joanne Gilmore, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on March 2 in Harris County District Court against Grace Care Center of Cypress.
Evangelista says on May 10, 2011, Joanne, a Grace Care Center resident, died as a result of continued and ongoing neglect. Grace Care subjected Gilmore to serious physical and mental injuries, according to the brief.Cy-Fair nursing home blamed for resident’s death Ultimate Cy-Fair:

Nursing home failed to protect patient from resident with ‘violent criminal record’ — Oak Park & River Forest news, photos and events — TribLocal.com

The family of an Alzheimer’s patient who died after a physical altercation with another patient at Oak Park Healthcare is suing the west suburban nursing home for wrongful death, according to a press release issued Thursday by the family’s lawyers.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday alleges the facility violated federal and state nursing home regulations in failing to protect patient from physical abuse and failing to provide appropriate supervision, according to the press release.
Anibal Calderon, an 80-year-old resident of the Oak Park Healthcare Center, “was assaulted by a 66-year-old resident with a violent criminal record and felony background,” according to the press release.
Calderon died Feb. 14 after head injuries suffered during the fight at the nursing home two days earlier.
A receptionist at Oak Park Healthcare who declined to give her name said the facility had no comment Thursday.
His death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Police have not charged anyone with a crime and have not released the name of the suspect. Oak Park police also have not released any information on the suspect’s record.
The lawsuit also alleges Oak Park Healthcare failed to promptly report and investigate all suspected physical assault and abuse at the facility, according to the release
Lawsuit: Nursing home failed to protect patient from resident with ‘violent criminal record’ — Oak Park & River Forest news, photos and events — TribLocal.com

Oak Park nursing home Sued after 80-year-old fatally beaten

The family of an elderly nursing home resident who was beaten to death by a fellow resident of Oak Park nursing home last month has filed a lawsuit claiming the nursing facility failed to protect the 80-year-old from abuse and neglect.

The wrongful death lawsuit against Oak Park Healthcare Center, 625 N. Harlem Ave., was filed in Cook County on behalf of the family of Anibal Calderon.
On Feb. 12, Calderon, who suffered from dementia, was assaulted by a 66-year-old resident with a violent criminal background, the suit claims. A nurse found Calderon unconscious in the Alzheimer’s/dementia ward, Oak Park police said.
Paramedics took Calderon from the extended care facility to Rush Oak Park Hospital, police said. He was later transferred to Rush University Medical Center, where he died two days later.
Family sues Oak Park nursing home after 80-year-old fatally beaten - Chicago Sun-Times

I-Team: Nursing Home Report

The Massachusetts state Health Department issues its final inspection report detailing serious findings of poor elder care at nursing home: the Pawtuxet Village Care and Rehabilitation Center.
Some of the Health Department reports' findings included not answering nurses' call lights for 15 minutes, leaving residents in urine- and feces-soaked clothing, failing to provide an on-going program that meets the interests and well being for residents, and under medicating and overmedicating residents, sometimes with narcotics, because of nursing home staff mistakes.

I-Team: Nursing Home Report | Turn to 10
See also http://www2.turnto10.com/news/i-team/2012/mar/14/8/i-team-report-details-poor-care-nursing-home-ar-964965/

Ohio facility may lose license after meth lab fire

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state of Ohio is taking steps to revoke the license of a nursing home that had a fatal methamphetamine lab fire and was later found to be violating federal regulations, the Ohio Department of Health said Tuesday.
The March 4 fire broke out in a resident's room at Park Haven Home in Ashtabula. Shaun Warrens, 31, who police said was not a resident of the home or an employee, was killed. Four other people were hospitalized, and two were treated at the scene.
A review of the home last week cited seven nursing home violations, including failure to have a written plan to evacuate residents in an emergency, according to a report on the violations. The home was also cited for not correctly closing and latching doors and not providing proper beds for two residents.
Park Haven was notified Monday that its state license may be revoked, health department spokeswoman Tessie Pollock said. If the home is closed, representatives of several agencies would be available to help residents find other places to live, she said.

Read more here: facility may lose license after meth lab fire - Wire National News - The Sacramento Bee

Low nursing homes ratings

Most of the 14 nursing homes in the Iowa City area are making the grade under federal quality ratings, but two facilities with higher-than-average health inspection deficiencies have consistently received failing scores over the past three years, an analysis of government ratings shows.
Windmill Manor, a troubled Coralville nursing home that has faced numerous federal and state penalties in recent years, currently is rated as a one-star facility, the lowest grade on the government’s five-star scale. And Iowa City Rehab and Health Care is currently rated as a two-star nursing home after sub-par health inspection scores, though its management says a recent renovation and good staffing will only improve the nursing home’s quality.
The ratings are issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which introduced the star system in late 2008 to give consumers a better way to compare nursing homes through an online database. Administrators say the grades — which take into account health inspections, staffing ratios and self-reported quality measures — are a useful tool for families who are scouting potential facilities. But many say the system fails to paint a complete picture, and they welcome changes that are set to be implemented this year.
Officials: More to nursing homes than the ratings show | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com

Canada promise tough sentences for crimes against seniors

The Canadian federal government is introducing legislation that calls for tougher sentences for those convicted of elder abuse.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Minister of State for Seniors Alice Wong announced plans to amend the Criminal Code so that taking advantage of a senior will be considered "an aggravating factor" in a crime. That "aggravating factor" would then be taken into consideration during sentencing.
"We have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, including older Canadians," Nicholson told reporters during the announcement at a seniors centre in Toronto on Thursday.
Nicholson explained the legislation does not call for specific penalties in cases involving the abuse of seniors, but calls on judges to use their discretion in each case.
"It's up to the judge within the offences that the individual has been charged with, to make that determination after they've been found guilty. And that's our job as legislators: to make these provisions, and that's exactly what we've done: make this an aggravating factor that the courts will have to look at," Nicholson told reporters.
Feds promise tough sentences for crimes against seniors | CTV Ottawa | CTV News

nursing home worker sexually assaulted resident

An employee of a St. Paul nursing home is accused of exposing himself and sexually assaulting a nursing home resident, according the Minnesota Department of Health report.
The state agency said the alleged nursing home assault incidents took place at the Highland Chateau Health Care Center, according to a report made public Tuesday, March 20. The nursing home, located at 2319 W. Seventh St. in the Highland neighborhood, self-reported the case.
According to the health department report, a resident told a state inspector that an employee had approached her several times while providing care and tried to touch her breasts, exposed his penis and had her provide oral sex.
The worker was not named and he denied the allegations.
"The (worker) provided inconsistent information during the course of the interview," the report states. Even though a health department investigator had found information about a similar situation in his past, the worker "denied that he had similar concerns about being sexually inappropriate with a resident," the report stated.
The worker had been the focus of two neglect allegations and one physical abuse allegation at other facilities, according to the report. Another employee at the nursing home described the resident as "alert and oriented," the report stated, and did not have a history of making false accusations.
St. Paul nursing home worker sexually assaulted resident, state says - TwinCities.com

Roscommon West Roxbury on National Watch List - Memberofthefamily.net

According to the website: http://www.memberofthefamily.net/watch/225499.htm
"Based on the annual and complaint survey data reported by CMS as of 02/26/12 , this home is listed because in at least one area they caused actual harm to a patient and/or subjected the patients to immediate jeopardy. More recent reports/corrections may be available. Check with the nursing home administrator. Actual harm is indicated by a score of G, H, I, while J, K, L indicate immediate jeopardy. The color coding scheme is explained in the site.

Study: Mass. medical board ranks poorly on MD discipline

Study: Mass. medical board ranks poorly on MA Doctor discipline
Public Citizen, a consumer group with a focus on health care, issued its annual listing comparing medical boards based on how regularly they discipline doctors. Not only does Massachusetts rank poorly, at No. 47, but it is among a handful of states that have dropped significantly in recent years. Seven years ago, the state was ranked solidly in the middle of the pack at No. 23.
The report ranks states based on the per capita number of serious disciplinary actions, or those that lead to a doctor license revocation, suspension or probation, over three years. For every 1,000 doctors in Massachusetts, there were 1.83 serious actions.
Study: Mass. medical board ranks poorly on MD discipline - White Coat Notes - Boston.com

2 El Dorado County nursing home workers charged with felony elder abuse of patient

2 nursing home workers charged with felony elder abuse of patient:
PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Prosecutors charged two nursing home workers with felony elder abuse after a 77-year-old woman was neglected at a Placerville facility shortly before she died in 2008.

The attorney general's office filed the charges after the death of Johnnie Esco, an Alzheimer's patient who spent two weeks at the El Dorado Care Center to recover from pneumonia, the Sacramento Bee reported (http://bit.ly/ADK579 ) Friday.
During Esco's stay, nurses were supposed to closely monitor her because medications left her with chronic constipation. She later died at a hospital on March 7, 2008, after suffering severe fecal impaction, and doctors also found unexplained bruising on her body.
The center's former director of nursing, Donna Palmer, 58, was arrested Tuesday and released on $75,000 bail. A warrant was issued for nurse Rebecca Smith, 38, but El Dorado County jail records did not show that she had been arrested as of Friday
2 El Dorado County nursing home workers charged with felony elder abuse of patient | The Republic

Nursing home failed to protect patient from resident with criminal record

The family of an Alzheimer’s patient who died after a physical altercation with another patient at Oak Park Healthcare is suing the west suburban nursing home for wrongful death, according to a press release issued Thursday by the family’s lawyers.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday alleges the facility violated federal and state nursing home regulations in failing to protect patient from physical abuse and failing to provide appropriate supervision, according to the press release.
Anibal Calderon, an 80-year-old resident of the Oak Park Healthcare Center, “was assaulted by a 66-year-old resident with a violent criminal record and felony background,” according to the press release.
Calderon died Feb. 14 after head injuries suffered during the fight at the facility two days earlier.
Lawsuit: Nursing home failed to protect patient from resident with ‘violent criminal record’ — Oak Park & River Forest news, photos and events — TribLocal.com

Nurses face felony charges in nursing home death

An 81-year-old Cameron Park man who served during three wars won the fight of his life this week when California's attorney general charged two nurses with felony elder abuse in connection with the 2008 death of his beloved wife.

The nurse arrest in Modesto of one nurse and the pursuit of the second, who reportedly has left the state, marks a bittersweet victory in the four-year quest of Don Esco to find justice for his late wife.
Johnnie Esco, 77, died on March 7, 2008, after a two-week stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville, a skilled nursing home facility owned at the time by Horizon West Healthcare Inc. of Rocklin. The company sold its 27 nursing homes last year to Plum Healthcare Group, a San Marcos-based chain.
Read more here:Nurses face felony charges in death of Cameron Park man's wife - Health and medicine - The Sacramento Bee

whistleblowing nurse out of work

SMITHFIELD - Psychiatric nurse Jeannine Peterson, a rock-climber when she's not in uniform, is accustomed to scaling barriers, but she hasn't been able to get past the fallout from her latest role in life: whistleblower.
It was a phone call from the 59-year-old Peterson that set into motion a recent investigation of elder sexual abuse that almost cost the Hebert Nursing Home its status as Medicare and Medicaid provider.
So far the only result, as far she's concerned, is the satisfaction of believing that she did the right thing.
But the call she made has claimed her $1,000-a-week-job, her peace of mind, and any faith that the "system" works. In fact, she thinks that by reporting a bizarre, long-term situation she may have actually made things worse.
Adding to her frustration is the fact that despite eyewitness accounts that she, and others, reported to the Smithfield Police, the state Attorney General's Office has declined to prosecute, saying that what the employees saw does not rise to a criminal level.
Smithfield Police Capt. Michael Rheaume said he could not understand that, because the sexual abuse charge seemed appropriate "and that's why we brought it to their attention."
Hebert Nursing Home states: 'We are in compliance,' while whistleblowing nurse out of work, license in jeopardy | The Valley Breeze