Traffic Accident Fatality Costs Iowa Nursing Home $10,000 In Fines
An Iowa nursing home now faces a $10,000 fine imposed by the state following an investigation into the death of an elderly patient at the facility. As we recently discussed, Corine Armentrout and another elderly patient were injured in a November 9th auto accident when the nursing home van in which they were passengers stopped abruptly. The sudden stop resulted in the women getting thrown from their wheelchairs to the floor of the van. The state investigation determined that women's injuries--- and subsequent death of Ms. Armentrout were attributable to the fact that the driver of the van failed to...
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Nursing Home Patients Injured After Driver Of Van Fails To Secure Their Wheelchairs
A recent auto accident involving a nursing home van-- full of elderly patients-- is under investigation by authorities in Iowa after two of the female passengers sustained injuries when the van rear-ended a car stopped at a light. Apparently the women-- who were both in wheelchairs-- only had their wheelchairs attached to the floor of the van. The driver never used a seat belt to secure them within the wheelchair. As the driver of the van applied the brakes the force of the stopping caused the women to be thrown from their wheelchairs causing them to sustain injuries. In Iowa,...
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Who Needs To Abide By Regulations? All Troubled Assisted Living Facilities Need To Do Is Re-Organize In Order To Avoid Compliance With Safety Laws
As we’ve discussed on several occasions, there has been a noticeable trend by senior care facilities to re-organize themselves into different entities in order to avoid regulations applicable to the particular facility. For example, nursing homes are subject to an extensive list of federal and state regulations regarding the type and method of care provided to patients. Assisted living facilities on the other hand are primarily controlled by each state. Other types of care facilities such as group homes and independent living facilities remain fairly unregulated for the most part. While the regulations help ensure safety of patients, they can...
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Family Awarded $546,000 In ManorCare Lawsuit
The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a jury verdict where the family of a deceased nursing home patient was awarded $546,000 in a lawsuit brought against Friendship Manor Care in Grinnell (Iowa) and Midwest Ambulance Services of Iowa. The lawsuit was brought about by a 2009 incident in which an elderly patient was being brought out of the ManorCare facility and fell from a gurney due to cracks on the pathway on the nursing home property. The fall resulted in the man striking his head on the pavement and lapsing into a coma from his head injuries. Several days...
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Director Of Nursing Cleared Of Charges Alleging That She Interfered With Nursing Home Inspection
I was frankly disturbed when I came across an article in the Press-Citizen by Clark Kauffman regarding a director of nursing at an Iowa nursing home who obviously bullied her employees into keeping quiet regarding poor care they may have witnessed at the facility. Karen Etter, the former director of nursing at Windmill Manor Nursing Home, was charged with attempting to impede or interfere with state inspections at the nursing home she was responsible for overseeing. Despite Ms. Etter's admission that she told employees at the facility that they would be fired if they reported dangerous conditions to state nursing...
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Fall From Bed Results In Death Of Newly Admitted Nursing Home Patient
I've noticed a trend amongst many nursing home negligence cases-- injuries occur at a disproportionately high rate within the initial admission period. The most reasonable explanation for the heightened rate of nursing home injuries in during the initial admission period is most likely related with both the facilities unfamiliarity with the patient and vice versa. Nonetheless, a facility that claims they were 'simply unfamiliar' with a patient is probably a poor defense if a negligence claim were pursued. Even before a care plan is developed, nursing homes must take reasonable steps to provide the highest feasible level of care for...
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Another Iowa Assisted Living Facility Chooses To Abandon Its License
Right on the heels of Dubuque Retirement Community, formerly Iowa's largest assisted living center, Jefferson Point Assisted Living Center has announced it will no longer operate as an 'assisted living facility'. Operators of Jefferson Point will now operate the facility as an apartment complex. Residents who require medical assistance may elect to remain in the building and pay for 24-hour medical care. Jefferson Point has a history of failing to meet minimum standards of care and has received multiple fines from Iowa regulators. Ann Martin of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals believes these assisted living centers' actions legal...
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Pesky Government Regulations No Problem For Assisted Living Facility In Iowa
Dubuque Retirement Community was the largest assisted living center in Iowa. It was run by Assisted Living Concepts, a Wisconsin for-profit-corporation that operates 216 care facilities in twenty states. Now, Assisted Living Concepts has given up its assisted-living license on the troubled 116-resident facility. In its short two-year history as an assisted living center, Dubuque Retirement Community amassed several fines for failure to meet minimum government standards with respect to providing adequate resident care. For example: A $500 fine for having no hot water for three days in February 2008; A $2,000 fine in October 2008 for problems including staffing,...
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A Recipe For Danger: Nursing Shortage Could Reach 1M By 2020
An aging nursing population, the growing need for nursing services and an insufficient number of facilities to train new nurses are coming together to create a 'nursing crisis', according to a recent article in The Iowa Independent. The congruence of factors will lead to dramatic shortages of nurses both in Iowa and on a national basis. The American Health Care Association estimates the the nursing shortage will explode in coming years. Among the nursing shortage numbers predicted by the AHCA include: July, 2009: 116,000 vacant nursing positions in hospitals and 19,000 vacant nursing positions in long-term care facilities. 2010:...
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