Allegations of Abuse and Neglect at Florida Nursing Home - UPDATE
We discussed the charges of abuse and neglect at Key West Convalescent Center in our previous blog. The Key West facility faces closure on December 11, 2008 and its 78 residents are being pressured to find a home. The facility was notified that it lost its Medicare and Medicaid funding on November 7 due to nearly four years of continues poor surveys for patient care, safety, and administration. The facility has been on a "special focus facility" list since January 2005. While most facilities are given 18 to 24 months to improve, this facility was given 46 months to improve. Unfortunately, it has shown little improvement.
The most recent survey produced a 179 page report that cited instances of abuse as well as safety and administrative violations. Included in the allegations of abuse was the accusation of a 39 year old AIDS patient who was treated roughly by facility employees while being cleaned. He asked them to stop, but they refused.
It may be for the best that the facility is closing. Steve Torrence formerly served on a community board that dealt with the facility and his mother-in-law was a resident there. He said that "the fault of all this is the nursing home owners. They have done little until recently to put money back into the nursing home. Too little, too late. They failed the residents." Torrence said that for years the owners failed to upgrade or fix dilapidated equipment, beds, and wheelchairs.
