Tucson Personal Injury Lawyer - Nursing Home

Conditions in Arizona Nursing Homes Alarming

Chrissie Cole — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:20:56 GMT

Conditions in Arizona nursing homes are so unsafe and alarming that state inspectors will not leave until all the problems have been fixed and are in compliance with state laws.

Inspectors discovered nursing home abuse of patients that are unable to get the right medicines and seniors living in fear of being abused by abusive employees. In the past two years the numbers of Arizona nursing homes found to be in these types of conditions has spiked.

In 2006, 13 percent of Arizona's nursing homes were found in immediate jeopardy during their annual inspection, up from two in 2006 and one or two in the years prior.

This year three facilities have received the worst possible rating a nursing home can receive.

State health officials are shocked and concerned about by the increase. Nursing home advocates and operators say the spike is being caused by lack of funding. They say the state needs more money to better monitor homes.

Nursing-home care became the center of a firestorm earlier this year after inspectors found the Arizona State Veteran Home to be in immediate jeopardy because staff allowed elderly patients to smoke unsupervised, with some burning themselves with cigarettes. Inspectors also found other cases of severe patient abuse, including residents being left in soiled clothes for hours and call lights not being answered.

Gov. Janet Napolitano and legislators vowed improvements at the home, which was fined $10,000 by the federal government. Inspectors say the home is now in compliance.

The veteran home is one of a few homes with such troubles. In April, Waverly Park in Tucson was fined $20,250 for not giving medications to 21 patients over a four day duration.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Tucson Nursing Home Fined for Abuse

Christina Cole — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:49:11 GMT

In a nursing home abuse case, the home was fined for failure to provide satisfactory care of a mentally ill patient and has been fined $1500.

This was the second penalty that has been paid since October 31st. The nursing home paid $3500 after a March 2006 complaint investigation documented that a male nurse and two other staff employees were emotionally, physically and verbally abusive to seven residents of the home.

Investigations showed one of the residents was kicked, another was restrained with a choke hold, another had his arm twisted behind his back, and several of the residents said staff members yelled at them.

In October and November, the state health department received three complaints regarding a female patient and how she was being treated. The mentally ill patient suffers from several disorders and was behaving badly according to her chart.

Suffering from schizophrenia and other medical conditions, the patient fell nine times within seven months before anyone at the nursing home acted to prevent more falls.

The woman had not received four doses of medication prescribed to her for diabetes and missed two pill doses for heart disease and high blood pressure.

From the beginning of October through the middle of the month, the woman was not given over twenty doses of Phenergan, a drug used in patients with schizophrenia to relieve anxiety. Patient care reports dated end of October and beginning of November did not mention the missed medication, or any attempt to deal with the woman's extreme behavior.

The purpose of a fine is "to create enough incentive to stay in compliance (with state licensing rules) but to not be so detrimental to the facility as to pull too many resources away from patient care", according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

One of the employees was fired and the abuse had halted during the health department's investigation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Man Arrested for Nursing Home Abuse

Christina Cole — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:40:08 GMT

A man has been arrested on charges that he hit a disabled resident of a nursing home where he was formerly employed. Williams was arrested today by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for nursing home abuse.

The arrest resulted from an investigation by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Units Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation team, according to a release from Attorney General Bill McCollum's office.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Alleged Victim of Nursing Home Abuse Dies

Christina Cole — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:28:31 GMT

A worker at Highlands of Brighton claimed a male nurse abused two nursing home residents last Thursday. A spokesperson for Strong Health, Teri D'Agostino, said, "What was alleged was very harsh treatment... physical abuse."

One of the residents died, two days later. Strong said, the woman had serious medical issues and her death wasn't unexpected. She was examined after the alleged abuse complaint. Although the hospital didn't find any evidence of abuse, the nurse was terminated.

"A decision was made to terminate the worker. It was found on several occasions that he used harsh language with residents. That won't be tolerated," D'Agostino said.
The nurse who was fired had only been at the Highlands at Brighton a few months and was still on probation. No other workers were disciplined according to D'Agostino. She also said employees are encouraged to report any incidents of alleged abuse.
The state health department's investigation is expected to take several weeks. The state attorney general's office Medicaid fraud unit is also involved. Also, Strong will hire an outside agency to investigate the alleged abuse. The nursing home is licensed to provide skilled care to 114 residents, most of whom have severe dementia and other acute care needs.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Nursing Home Employees Charged with Abuse

Christina Cole — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:31:03 GMT

Monday, two employees of the Price Hill Nursing Home were charged with patient abuse and neglect after allegedly leaving patients unattended for many hours.

Lanetra Smith, 22, of West Price Hill and Lamonica Duckworth, 26, of College Hill are being charged with patient neglect and abuse. Duckworth is also being brought up on charges for driving while on suspension.

According to police, the caregivers at the 50-bed nursing home at 584 Elberon Ave. left the building around 1:45 p.m. Monday, leaving the patients unattended for several hours. They were arrested at 3:30 p.m.
Smith was additionally charged with obstructing official business for allegedly misleading investigators about her whereabouts. She told police she was frightened away from the building by a male subject, according to the report.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole