Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Golden Living Failed To Provide Adequate Staffing For Patients
A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of many past and current patients of Golden Living Centers in California alleging that the facilities' failed to provide minimum nursing care for patients over the past five years. Despite California state standards that require nursing homes to provide no less than 3.2 hours of nursing care per patient per day, the facilities allegedly chose to ignore the legal requirements and elected to staff the facilities as elected. As a result of Golden Living's failure to provide state mandated nursing care, the lawsuit alleges that patients suffered neglect and injury. In...
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Lawsuit Claims That Husband & Wife Suffered From Negligent Care At Residential Care Facility For The Elderly
Like many elderly couples, a decision to move into a long-term care facility may mean that such a decision is a 'joint effort' and where one spouse goes-- so goes the other. In theory, moving a couple into a long-term care facility provides continuity and support in a new environment. But what happens when the care at the facility is just plain bad? Well... unfortunately, the decision may result in harm to both spouses as evidenced by a lawsuit filed on behalf of a husband and wife who sought the services of a residential care facility for the elderly...
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As More Sex Offenders Make Their Way Into Nursing Homes, Are Facilities Exposing Themselves To Increased Liability?
As if nursing home patients and their families didn't have enough to worry about with respect to receiving proper medical care, many patients may be shocked to learn that they are living amongst registered sex offenders. While the component of sex offenders in nursing homes is nothing new, the fact remains that as a generation of sexual deviants ages--- their need for skilled nursing care is expanding. With few alternatives, many convicted felons--- some of whom have particularly disturbing backgrounds are settling into long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. While their need for medical care...
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Recent Problems Highlighted In Article About Residential Care Facilities For The Elderly In California
One of the the emerging trends in nursing home care is the proliferation of care facilities that commonly hold themselves out to be nursing home alternatives. Many of these facilities have arisen in response to consumer demand for facilities that offer a less institutional feel and a cost far-less than traditional skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes). Depending on where you live, some of these facilities may be know as group homes or residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFE). They are simply not called skilled nursing facilities, because they do not offer any nursing or medical care to patients. Certainly...
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Short-Term Nursing Home Admission Turns Into Nightmare
Like many patients in nursing nursing homes today, Donald Bodkin's admission was only intended to be short-term to for the purpose of assisting him with the recovery from a hip surgery. However just weeks after he was admitted to Victoria Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center (California) Mr. Bodkin (93) was found dead as the result of a ruptured ulcer in his small intestine and an infection in his bloodstream. An investigation into his death by the California Department of Health determined that Victoria Healthcare's inadequate care is likely to blame for Mr. Bodkin's untimely death. An investigation confirmed that the facility...
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Judge Denies Assisted Living Facilities Request For Arbitration In Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Like all families placing a loved one in a nursing home, Erik and Ronald Kuentzel wanted the best for their mother after selecting Sunshine Villa Assisted Living Facility (Santa Cruz, California) for their mother's residence. With a known desire to walk, combined with the fact their their mother had dementia, the brothers knew of the importance of keeping close tabs on their mothers whereabouts. In fact, the brothers purchased a device, known as a WanderGuard, from Sunshine Villa to help the facility keep tabs on their mother's whereabouts. Just hours after her admission to the facility, the elderly woman...
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Elder Abuse: Captured On Video At California Facility
The California Department of Social Services revoked the residential care home license from Fair Oaks Care Home. The revocation comes after the family of a patient at the facility came forth with a hidden video demonstrating staff abusing the elderly patient. In addition to abusive living conditions, the state further alleges that the facility was unfit to care for patients due to: Fire code violations Improperly disposing dirty needles Forging prescription Dispensing expired prescriptions Sadly, the abusive conditions in the video were not discovered until after the death of the woman at the facility. Though the woman's death is...
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Dementia Patient Found In Freezer At Assisted Living Facility: An Isolated Event Or Real Cause For Concern?
The California Department of Social Services is busy conducting an investigation into the circumstances behind how a 94-year-old with dementia managed to lock herself in a walk-in freezer at Silverado Senior Living. The October 28th incident apparently resulted when staff were in the process of repairing a lock on a kitchen door that enabled the woman to access the freezer unit in the kitchen. Fortunately, the woman was located in the freezer after the facility initiated a facility-wide search when she was discovered missing. This incident comes months after an employee at the assisted living facility was sentenced to life...
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Nursing Home Fined After Investigation Determines That Urinary Tract Infection Was Related To Poor Care
The California Department of Health has rendered its most severe citation (AA) and a $80,000 fine following an investigation into the death of an 86-year-old woman at Walnut Whitney Care Center (California). An investigation determined that the woman was admitted to the facility in March, 2008 for medical care related to injuries she sustained in a fall. Just five weeks after her initial admission, the woman was transferred to a hospital emergency room where she diagnosed as having septic shock. Less than 24-hours after her hospital admission she died from resulting complications. Specifically, the investigation determined that the nursing home...
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Failure To Follow Supervisory Guidelines Results In Substantial Fine For California Facility
The fall-related death of a 58-year-old nursing home patient at Browning Manor Convalescent Hospital triggered an investigation by the California Department of Health that determined that the facilities errors are partially to blame for the death of the patient. An investigation by the agency revealed that the facility violated its own supervisory guidelines in caring for the man who unbuckled a safety restraint and fell from his wheelchair and fractured his neck. The man died several days later from complications related to his injury. In the days leading up to his death, the facility documented the man’s irregular behavior, yet...
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