Nursing Home Cited for Abuse and Neglect 31 Times

An article by Staff writer Matt Sanctis in the Springfield News-Sun reports that a nursing home in the area let a patient overdose on unsecured narcotics. According to the article:

Two Eaglewood residents allegedly took oxycodone pills from a narcotic box left unlocked on a medication cart by a licensed practical nurse on Dec. 10, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

“This resulted in immediate jeopardy, serious life-threatening harm for one cognitively intact resident with a history of drug abuse …” the statement of deficiencies says.

When a person is put in a nursing home, it is under the understanding that they need to be kept safe, and keeping them from drugs that are life threatening is included in this assumption.

Yet Another Incident

The article reports on another incident where a resident failed to get the proper care they needed. The article reports:

The Ohio health department also sent a statement of deficiency dated June 3, 2016, after a patient died in April that year. The patient, “experienced respiratory distress and received no medical intervention,” the report says.

Again, the reason people are placed into nursing homes is because they need constant care or need to me monitored for health issues around the clock. It is not acceptable for a resident to not receive medical intervention when going through a life-threatening medical crisis.

The article continues:

The patient’s doctor was paged at 1 a.m. April 9, 2016, and a nurse was awaiting a return call. The patient was assessed again at 2 and 3:30 a.m. and still showed signs of distress, the state report says. The doctor didn’t return the page and the patient was, “found on the floor without a pulse or respirations,” shortly before 7 a.m., the report says.

CPR was attempted but the patient didn’t respond and died, the statement of deficiency says.

If these allegations are indeed correct, this is a terrifying case of neglect.

Confusion on Deficiencies

According to the article, the manager of Eaglewood’s management company claims that the deficiencies were not issued because of poor patient/resident care. The article reports the following:

Bruce Wertheim, manager of Eaglewood operator Beacon Health Management, said the staff cares about their patients and that many deficiencies noted in the federal letters can be classified as administrative errors. He also said the facility submitted plans of correction to the Ohio Department of Health in each case and constantly works to make improvements to provide better care.

Is this true? It is not known, but the article goes on to report that the standards of care based on citations is much below average. The article states:

The facility’s most recent standard health inspection was Dec. 22, 2016, according to the Medicare.gov Nursing Home Compare website, which lists its rating as “much below average.”

The federal website lists the total number of health citations as 31 and says the average number of health citations in Ohio is 6.2. The Medicare website also shows 16 complaints were filed in the past three years that resulted in a citation.

There are easy ways to look up a nursing homes CMS rating and if you are considering putting your loved one into a nursing home you should research the home to make sure that they are not prone to this sort of thing.

If you are concerned that your loved has been the victim of neglect and abuse at a nursing home, it may be time to consider speaking with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney. We can help you navigate through the confusion and help you hold the nursing home accountable for their actions, or lack of actions. You can comment below or contact me here using a confidential form to tell me about your loved one’s case.

You can read the full article referenced above here.