North Carolina Nursing Home Resident Found With Unexplained Injuries - UPDATE
We previously discussed Della Jarrett and Sunnybrook Healthcare and Rehabilitation in our blog.
Eighty-eight year old Della Jarrett was a long-time resident of Sunnybrook Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Raleigh, North Carolina. In May 2009, Ms. Jarrett was transported to the hospital for treatment of a gastric problem. When Ms. Jarrett's daughter, Doris Weaver, walked into the Emergency Room, she found dark bruises on her mother's face from her temple down to her lower earlobe. No one seemed to know what happened. Because Ms. Jarrett has suffered from dementia since her late 70s and has been unable for years to roll over or walk, Weaver finds it unlikely that her mother injured herself in a fall. She thinks her mother was abused and reported it to local police.
Federal regulators inspected the facility and found that residents were at risk for immediate harm for more than eight weeks this past spring. Immediate jeopardy is a situation in which the caregiver's actions, or lack thereof, are likely to cause serious harm, injury, impairment, or death to a resident. Violations were found in six other resident care areas, including the facility's failure to identify and report the source of Ms. Jarrett's bruising and to properly supervise residents to prevent injury. Other violations uncovered included:
- Failure to timely notify Ms. Jarrett's physician and family when unexplained bruises were discovered;
- Failure to properly supervise residents to prevent accidents (an unidentified female resident at the facility to learn to use a walker fell twice, once in her own urine);
- Violation of facility policy when the facility failed to identify and report injuries of unknown origin (Jarrett case);
- Failure to allow residents to make choices. Ms. Jarrett was transferred to a hospital when her records clearly stated that she wanted no unnecessary hospitalizations while under hospice care;
- Failure to document and assess Ms. Jarrett's bruising.
While inspectors were unable to substantiate Ms. Jarrett's abuse, they did not rule it out. Nevertheless, Doris Weaver is glad she called the state, saying, "It was good that I notified the state. Hopefully, it will help some other person from ending up like my mother." In the case of Della Jarrett, one nursing assistant was suspended and a nurse was disciplined. Della Jarrett has since been moved to another long-term care facility.
Sunnybrook Healthcare and Rehabilitation faces in excess of $210,000 in federal fines, as well as an additional $200 per day fine since June 9, 2009.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
