Even Stiff Fines Can't Force Nursing Homes To Take Necessary Steps To Prevent Pressure Ulcers
When nursing homes take simple, preventative steps such as: turning patients, keeping them clean, and providing adequate nutrition and hydration; they can greatly decrease the incidence of pressure sores at their facilities. However, even though the preventative steps are well known, many nursing facilities simply fail to implement the necessary care that patients require to function optimally. I was particularly disturbed when I came across an article in the Arizona Daily Star regarding a Kindred-owned nursing home that has been repeatedly failed to provide sufficient wound care for its patients. In fact, Villa Campana Health Care Center was most recently...
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Long-Term Care Hospitals: More Profit, Less Staff
There's been a lot of discussion recently regarding a New York Times article that details patient care at long-term acute care hospitals-- a relatively new type of medical facility for patients requiring long-term medical care. Although these long-term care hospitals have many similarities to traditional nursing homes, they are structured to take advantage of Medicare reimbursement rules that pay higher rates of reimbursement for treating chronically-ill patients. The Times, article chronicles, Select Medical Corporation and Kindred Healthcare, publicly traded companies that run long-term hospitals across the country. While long-term care hospitals may be more profitable than traditional facilities, the facilities...
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What's In A Name? Are Large Nursing Home Chains Intentionally Attempting To Deceive The Public When It Comes To Corporate Ownership?
One of the things I do each morning is to look through my google reader account to see the new updates regarding nursing home news and information. Today, I glanced through the news stories to find another unfortunate report regarding the alleged abuse of a patient at an Ohio nursing home. You can read about this report of nursing abuse here. As I read the article, where abuse was alleged to have occurred at Heartland Lansing Nursing Home, I realized how deceptive the names of nursing homes can be to the general public. In the case of Heartland, it is...
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Hefty Fine Imposed On A Kindred Nursing Home For Failing To Report Potential Abuse To Authorities
Officials from the North Carolina Department of Health and Medicare slapped a $210,000 fine on Sunnybrook Healthcare and Rehabilitation following an investigation that determined the facility failed to identify and report serious bruising of a resident. As we discussed, authorities were alerted after 88-year-old Della Jarrett was found with multiple facial bruises. Staff at Sunnybrook offered no explanation for the bruising despite the fact that Weaver was bed-bound, making any self-inflicted injury virtually impossible. Jarrett's daughter's complaint triggered an investigation into the matter by North Carolina officials. Despite the visible bruising, officials were unable to confirm if the bruises...
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State Inspectors Find Safety Violations In Indiana Nursing Home
Acting on an anonymous tip alleging improper care, investigators from the Indiana Department of Public Health conducted an inspection of the Royal Oaks Health Care and Rehabilitation Center. The inspection revealed 13 violations of federal nursing home laws. Although the person initiating the investigation had a relative who developed advanced bedsores (also called decubitus ulcers, pressure sores or pressure ulcers) and sepsis during their stay at Royal Oak, the investigation concluded that no residents were harmed by the violations. "There were deficient practices and violations of federal regulations, but no one was actually harmed," said Ellen Greig, a spokeswoman with...
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