Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

A recent review of information on Belleville, Illinois nursing homes found on the Medicare website is cause for concern. Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Attorney David Terry determined that of the six nursing homes located in Belleville, Illinois, four of them have been deemed one-star facilities, according to the rating system instituted by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which does not leave much in the way of options for Belleville, Illinois residents requiring nursing home services. Today, David examines the rating of Helia Southbelt Healthcare, a 156 bed nursing home facility. The owner of this facility appears to own and operate a total of 11 nursing homes throughout the State of Illinois, five of which are known to be one-star facilities.

What is a 1-star facility? According to Medicare.gov, a 1-star facility represents a "much below average" nursing home. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services bases its ratings on three components: Quality Measures, Nursing Home Staffing, and Health Inspections. Once the information is compiled, Medicare assesses the information and a rating is generated for a facility. Let's examine the performance of Helia Southbelt Healthcare and find out.

The one-star rating of Helia Southbelt Healthcare is not a surprise after reviewing information found on the Medicare.gov website. Surveyors found a whopping 24 violations at Helia Southbelt Healthcare during the survey period that ran from January 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. It appears that the survey period of January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 was no better - surveyors found 24 violations. The survey reporting period of January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 only contained eight violations, which is the average number of violations for the State of Illinois annually. What went wrong?

Quality Measures is comprised of information reported by nursing home facilities on multiple areas, some of which include resident health, physical functioning, mental status, and general well-being. Helia Southbelt Healthcare earned four out of five stars in the area of Quality Measures. The chart below shows how Helia Southbelt fared in the area of Quality Measures.

Helia Southbelt

Most nursing homes are inspected annually. Prior to the annual inspection, the nursing home is required to provide its staffing hour information to the state reporting agency. This information is then converted into the number of staffing hours provided to each resident each day. In the area of Nursing Home Staffing, Helia Southbelt Healthcare did not fare well, earning only one out of five stars, which is considered much below average.

Continue reading " Illinois Nursing Home Attorney Examines Helia Southbelt Healthcare " »

It is sad to say that nursing home neglect is a problem throughout this country. Unfortunately, Springfield, Missouri is no exception. Having spent 11 years pursuing nursing home justice, I have begun to reviewing and commenting on public data available on nursing homes throughout the state.

Springfield Skilled Care Center is a 120 bed skilled care nursing home facility located in Springfield, Missouri. Reportedly, the facility is owned by Judah Bienstock. A for-profit facility, Springfield Skilled Care Center is rated as a one-star facility, according to the ratings system instituted by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which places it in the "much-below average" range according to Medicare.gov. It appears that the one-star rating that Springfield Skilled Care Center was well-deserved.

For the complaint reporting period of December 1, 2009 through February 28, 2011, Springfield Skilled Care Center was assessed 17 deficiencies, some of which caused actual harm or placed residents in immediate jeopardy. The facility was cited for 11 deficiencies for the December 1, 2008 through November 30, 2009 reporting period and 5 deficiencies for the reporting period of December 1, 2007 through November 30, 2008. The average number of deficiencies in Missouri is 7. The trend for this facility is going the wrong way!

Nursing home facilities are required to protect their residents from all alleged violations of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment, whether it be from staff or from another source. Springfield Skilled Care Center was cited in February 2010 for failing to keep each resident free from physical restraint unless absolutely necessary. It was also cited for failing to hire individuals who have no legal history of abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents and/or failing to investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents.

Missouri and federal laws also require that each resident receive care and services necessary to get or keep the highest quality of life possible. Springfield Skilled Care Center failed its residents in this respect on February 3, 2010 when nursing home inspectors found that residents were placed in an immediate jeopardy situation and at least one resident was actually harmed. Facility staff were also cited for failing to give professional services that met a professional standard of quality. Meeting this standard appears to be difficult for the staff at this facility because they have been cited for this same deficiency for each of the past three years. If you are considering placing your loved one at this facility, you should ask very pointed questions about how they are rectifying this long-standing problem.

Care Plans must be developed for each individual resident to meet the resident’s medical, nursing, and mental needs and the Care Plan needs to be routinely assessed and updated to reflect the resident’s ongoing needs. Investigators found that Springfield Skilled Care Center failed multiple times during the last three years to develop individual care plans that met the needs of each individual resident.

Continue reading " Missouri Nursing Home Attorney Examines Springfield Skilled Care Center " »

Missouri legislature passed a bill in 2007 requiring residential care facilities with at least 20 beds to install sprinklers by the end of 2012. The legislation was introduced after eleven people died in a November 2006 fire at Anderson Guest House, a southwest Missouri facility that was home for mentally ill and disabled residents.

Now, Missouri lawmakers have voted to delay the sprinkler mandate system. The new bill, which was given final approval on Wednesday, grants facility owners a reprieve until December 31, 2014. The bill is now on Governor Nixon's desk.

A Springfield, Missouri nursing home resident died Monday, May 9, 2011, after falling from a window at the Springfield Skilled Care Center.

Sadly, the body of eighty-one year old Mary Bebee was found by police around 6:15 a.m. in the backyard of the facility. Ms. Bebee, a two year resident of the facility, suffered from Alzheimer's disease and reportedly resided in an area of the facility that was equipped with two certified nursing assistants and one licensed nurse. She was last seen around 3:00 a.m. on Monday. Preliminary autopsy results found that Ms. Bebee died from a fractured neck.

The preliminary investigation into this tragic incident revealed that part of a window screen and edging around the screen had been pushed out of a window on the one-story building that sat approximately four feet above the ground. According to Springfield Police Cpl. Matt Brown, "It appears she crawled through the window." Brian Mattox, the facility Administrator, said, "That's the unusual part. We don't know how it happened." Springfield police and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services continue their investigations into this tragedy.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ms. Bebee.

While we don't know the specifics in this case, it is not uncommon for nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease to become confused, wander and try to leave nursing home facilities. Nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease are challenging to care for, but nursing homes know that this is a part of the day-to-day care they are to provide. In fact, many nursing homes advertise that they specialize in caring for those with dementia. To that end, nursing homes are required to assess each resident to determine their risk for wandering. If the risk is there, the facility is to initiate a plan of care specifically designed to care for the residents at high risk for wandering and elopement.

Some aspects to such care plans include:

• To consistently monitor doors—especially during shift changes where residents are particularly inclined to wander.
• Place residents that have been characterized "at risk" for wandering closer to nursing stations so that they can be more closely monitored.
• Using alarms on the resident's bed, wheelchair, windows or doors as well as the residents themselves.
• Exit doors and windows should be alarmed to notify staff when residents attempt to leave the facility.
• Using "Wanderguard" bracelets that sound an alarm if a resident passes a designated spot.

The Terry Law Firm is a St. Louis based law firm concentrating in all types of personal injury and wrongful death litigation. They are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who are injured by the negligence of others. Please contact the firm at 314-878-9797 or visit www.TerryLawOffice.com for more information.

According to a new study, set to be published in the American Journal of Infection Control in May 2011, infections in nursing home residents, which is the cause of approximately 400,000 deaths in U.S. nursing homes annually, may be largely attributed to understaffing. Understaffing in nursing homes occurs when nursing home owners and operators elect to save money in their operations by employing and scheduling only the bare minimum of employees necessary according to federal regulations. This method of cost-cutting saves nursing home owners and operators millions of dollars nationwide each year.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require all nursing homes nationwide to meet certain requirements to be considered eligible for Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. Facilities that do not meet federal standard care criteria are assessed deficiency citations, also known as F-Tags. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health examined the criteria for The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services F-Tag 441, a deficiency citation governing infection control requirements, and gathered and analyzed data collected for Medicare/Medicaid certification from 2000 to 2007. The data analyzed involved approximately 16,000 nursing homes and approximately 100,000 "observations" annually, which is 96% of all nursing home facilities in the United States.

Through their study, researchers determined that infections and the deaths resulting from infections may largely be attributed to nursing home understaffing. According to study authors, "Our analysis may provide some clues as to the reason for the persistent infection control problems in nursing homes. Most significantly, the issue of staffing is very prominent in our findings; that is, nurse aides, LPNs and RNs, low staffing levels are associated with F-Tag 441 citations. With low staffing levels, these caregivers are likely hurried and may skimp on infection control measures, such as hand hygiene."

If you have a loved one in a nursing home, do not be shy about confronting administrators about staffing issues. Remember, no one wil ever love your family member as much as you, so you need to be persistent in making sure that there is sufficient staffing to help meet the needs of the one you love.

Residents at a Georgia nursing home facility suffered beatings, embezzlement, and medication theft at the hands of those entrusted to care for them. Over the past two months, three employees of Winterville Retirement Center have been arrested and charged with separate and unrelated crimes against the very people they were supposed to be caring for.

On February 22, 2011, Cynthia Ann Barrow, an employee of Winterville Retirement Center, reportedly punched an 82 year-old woman in the face because the resident had taken butter from a dining room food cart. The resident had a "knot the size of an egg" on the back of her head where she struck the food cart and the floor. She was treated at a local hospital and released. She died on March 19, 2011 and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether her head injuries contributed to her death. Barrow was charged with abuse of an elderly person.

Nine days after the resident's death, Shyniqua Buckles, another Winterville Retirement Center employee, allegedly stole more than 100 Xanax tablets that had been prescribed for the deceased resident. Police officers searched Buckles' home and found all but six of the stolen pills. Buckles was arrested and charged with fradulently obtaining a controlled substance.

Sherrye Huff, the facility Administrator, was recently charged with five felony charges - one count of misdemeanor theft, two counts of exploiting an elderly person, and three counts of theft - for her role in abusing the defenseless people left in her care. The investigation into Huff's activities began on April 27, 2011, after the son of an Alzheimer's resident complained that he received an arrears notice from the nursing home. The man had been making payments to Huff through social security and pension checks and was under the impression that Huff had been forwarding the payments to Assisted Living Concepts, the parent company of the facility. When confronted, Huff reportedly admitted that she cashed four of the checks for her own use and cashed a fifth check for another resident.

Continue reading " Georgia Nursing Home Residents Suffer Beatings, Embezzlement, and Medication Theft at the Hands of Facility Staff " »

The "prank" of two former employees of LaSalle Veterans Home has led to a lawsuit.

Thinking it would be a great practical joke on the following shift, facility employees Julie Payne and Cynthia Orlando reportedly thought it would be funny to insert a suppository into the rectum of a defenseless Alzheimer's resident on July 9, 2010. Orlando and Payne, a registered nurse and certified nurse's aide respectively, allegedly held down resident Kenneth Mahoney and inserted an unnecessary suppository into his rectum to produce a large bowel movement for the next nursing shift. After state police and the Illinois Department of Public Health investigated the incident, Payne and Orlando were charged with a Class A misdemeanor battery. The women face up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The family of Kenneth Mahoney filed a civil lawsuit against the women seeking in excess of $200,000. The suit reportedly accuses the women of inflicting emotional distress on Mahoney and alleges that Mahoney "has suffered and continues to suffer permanent injury". The suit further alleges that the Mahoney's nerves, nervous system, and mental faculties were severely injured and shocked from the incident and that he has become "sick, sore, lame, and disordered".

This is a disgusting and appalling case. In our opinion, these two employees should be facing far stiffer punishment than they are. There is nothing funny about assaulting anyone, much less an Alzheimer's patient who is among the more vulnerable people in our society. We wish the family of the resident well as they seek justice for their loved one.

Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Attorney David Terry is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. If you suspect that a family member or friend is suffering abuse at the hands of "trusted" caregivers, contact the Terry Law Firm to schedule a free, no obligation consultation to investigate your options at 1-888-317-2525 or 314-878-9797.

A Minnesota nursing home is reportedly to blame for a resident's recent untimely death. According to a state Health Department investigation, Sunwood Good Samaritan Society of Redwood Falls, a nursing home facility located in western Minnesota, was negligent in the resident's November 1, 2010 death when its staff allegedly failed to act quickly when a resident's physical condition was unexpectedly deteriorated.

On October 31, the resident was eating dinner when she began coughing and gasping during dinner. Rather than call the woman's physician, a facility nurse faxed the doctor concerning the woman's difficulty breathing. No one responded to the fax or followed up the next day.

The next day, the woman continued to have trouble breathing, her appetite was poor, and she was lethargic. Later that night, the woman's condition worsened and her pulse was erratic and her breathing was more difficult. Her fingertips turned blue and she curled into a fetal positions. A facility nurse administered oxygen and gave her medication for pain. Faxes were again send to the doctor's office, beginning at 4:15 p.m. After the third fax, after 5:00 p.m., the woman's doctor finally responded.

At 5:15 p.m., facility staff called an ambulance for the woman but failed to indicate that it was an emergency. At 6:25 p.m., the same nurse called again for an ambulance, failing again to stress the emergent status of the resident. When the ambulance finally arrived at 6:30 p.m., the woman was in cardiac arrest and died just before 7:00 p.m. Her cause of death was cardio-respiratory failure.

The ensuing investigation into the facility's actions found that the facility failed to have formal processes in place for monitoring and reacting to significant changes in the resident's condition. The facility was ordered to take corrective action addressing the three deficiencies assessed in this case and staff were trained to:

- Call 911 - not sheriff's dispatch - for ambulance requests.

- Respond to "significant changes in condition" of residents appropriately.

- Implement systems for proper physician notification in emergent situations.

Missouri Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney David Terry is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect in Missouri and Illinois. If you suspect that your loved one or family member may be a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, contact us toll-free for a no obligation consultation at 1-888-317-2525 or 314-878-9797.

In yesterday's blog entry, we looked at several areas of concern Missouri investigators had with Golden Living Center - Westwood. Today, we continue with our analysis of the recent citations received by this Clinton, Missouri facility.

Most nursing home residents take a variety of medications. When we place our loved ones in a nursing home facility, we trust them to give residents the right medications, at the right time, and in the correct dosage. A medication error can have catastrophic consequences. State and federal regulations require that all nursing homes keep their medication error rate under 5% (which, in my opinion, is far too generous of an error rate). In June 2010, Golden LivingCenter - Westwood received a state regulatory citation for failing to keep their medication error rate under 5%. So, imagine that your loved one is a resident of a facility that can only get the correct medication to the correct resident less than 95% of the time. Would you fly an airplane if you knew that it had less than a 95% chance of a safe landing?

Most nursing home facilities must be administered in such a way that it benefits its residents. Inspectors cited Golden LivingCenter - Westwood in 2008 and 2009 in the area of Administration when facility staff failed to follow all laws and professional standards and when staff failed to ensure that nurse aides had the appropriate skills to care for residents.

Although this facility received a mininum number of citations in the area of Health Inspections, Golden LivingCenter - Westwood still was assessed a three-star, or average, rating. In reviewing the other areas reviewed by nursing home inspectors, it appears that the main problem for this facility is with their staffing levels. Nursing home staffing is often the first area sacrificed by facility owners in an effort to save money. Frequently, to cut costs and save money, nursing home owners and operators employ and use the bare minimum number of employees. In the case of this facility, Medicare.gov determined that its staffing levels merited a rating of only one out of four stars, or much below average, in the area of staffing. The following chart provides information pertaining to the total number of care minutes averaged nationally, in Missouri, and at Golden LivingCenter - Westwood:

As you can see, the highlighted areas show that residents of Golden LivingCenter - Westwood are receiving substantially less staffing care in nearly every area per patient per day than the average resident in Missouri and throughout the country.

Continue reading " Is Golden Living Providing Quality Care? Missouri Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Looks At Golden LivingCenter - Westwood, Part 2 " »