Report Reveals List of Nursing Homes Providing Substandard Care
When a family makes the difficult decision to have their loved one cared for in a nursing home, they expect the facility to provide a standard level of treatment. Unfortunately, not all nursing homes deliver the service their residents need. A report issued earlier this month by Senators Bob Casey, D-Pa. and Pat Toomey, R-Pa. revealed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited nearly 400 nursing homes across the U.S. for providing substandard care.
Examples of abuse and neglect cited in an appendix attached to the report, include:
- A resident escaping from her window: She was found later on railroad tracks.
- A facility failing to provide medical treatment to a resident who was ill: He later died at the hospital.
- A facility failing to provide medication at the appropriate times: The patient suffered a blood clot, as well as mental agitation, and had to be admitted to the hospital.
- A facility failing to take care of an insect infestation: Cockroaches and ants were found crawling around residents and on counters.
Two Long Beach Nursing Homes on the List
Included on the list of nursing homes were two Long Beach facilities that each received multiple citations. Long Beach Healthcare Center received 39, and Windsor Gardens had 22.
In July of 2018, Windsor Gardens was cited for having a resident restrained in a bed that was filled with feces. Joe Peralez, an administrator at the facility, said they are working on improvements to get the issues corrected.
Long Beach Healthcare Center received one of the harshest citations issued by the state for directly causing a patient’s death in 2018. The resident was rushed to the emergency room because her abdomen was distended as a result of not having a bowel movement for days. After the state investigated the incident, it found that the facility’s staff failed to monitor the woman and report her condition.
Making Nursing Home Information Accessible to the Public
For years, the list of nursing homes with a “persistent record of poor care” was kept hidden from the public, which undermined the government’s commitment to be more transparent about these facilities that receive federal funding. According to the report, Senators Casey and Toomey felt that families needed access to this information so they could make educated decisions about nursing home choices. Their goal is to work with CMS to provide individuals with this data regularly.
For Compassionate Legal Representation, Contact Berberian Ain LLP
The ongoing instances of nursing home abuse and neglect occurring nationwide are deplorable. The reckless actions of staff entrusted to provide care for the country’s most vulnerable citizens can cause serious injury and even death.
If your loved one was harmed in a nursing home, you might be able to pursue legal action and hold the facility liable. At Berberian Ain LLP, we will provide the counsel you need to file a civil claim and seek just compensation for damages.