Four Nursing Homes Fined

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Four Connecticut nursing homes have been fined more than $1,000 each in connection with incidents involving residents who sustained dramatic weight loss, dehydration, cuts and broken bones.

Maefair Health Care Center of Trumbull was fined $1,300 and was cited in connection with a case involving a resident with dementia who fell to the floor from a wheelchair on July 27. The resident received four stitches for a facial cut and was hospitalized for a possible cervical fracture, an Oct. 10 citation from the state Department of Public Health said.

The home was cited for not following its care plan, which required that the resident only be seated in an upright position during lunch and dinner, records show. An official from Maefair could not be reached for comment.

Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation of Windsor was cited Oct. 9 for incidents involving three residents, including one case on Nov. 30, 2012 in which a resident who refused to wear an alarm was found wandering on the main road outside the nursing home.

State records said that when the person refused to wear the alarm the home should have updated its records and put additional interventions in place to keep the resident from leaving the home.

In another case, a resident with diabetes lost 15 pounds – dropping to 102 pounds – in two months, records from July 18 show. The home’s records did not reflect whether the resident had been weighed each week, and a dietician’s notes did not mention the weight loss, DPH records show.

In the third incident, a resident with congestive heart failure was taken to a hospital on June 30 with dehydration and acute renal failure, records show. State records said the nursing home should have been monitoring the resident’s fluid intake to prevent dehydration, but that its records failed to show whether the fluids had been monitored from June 10 to June 30.  The nursing home was fined $1,160.

Tracy Haddad, Kindred’s executive director, released the following statement: “Resident care and safety is our number one concern. We take seriously every issue brought to our attention by the state. We have filed a plan of correction with the state and look forward to having the state approve our plan” once the home is inspected again.

On Oct. 25, Amberwoods of Farmington was fined $1,020 and was cited for an Aug. 31 incident in which a resident with multiple sclerosis fell from a mechanical lift to the floor, breaking two ribs, DPH records show. Two nursing aides had lifted the resident with a mechanical lift when part of it became unhooked and the resident fell two to three feet, records show. Records show the lift had a loose hook and a small tear.  The aides were retrained in safe lift procedures and one aide was disciplined for not following the facility’s lift policy.   An official at Amberwoods could not be reached for comment.

The Jewish Home for the Elderly of Fairfield County, Inc. was fined $1,020 and was cited for a June 10 incident in which a resident with dementia fell out of a wheelchair when his or her legs were dangling out of the chair, records show. The resident was hospitalized with a facial cut and hip and back pain. DPH records said that X-rays showed the resident had severe compression fractures of two vertebrae. Records said the staff members were required to make sure the leg rests were in place when the resident was being moved.  Larry Condon, the home’s vice president and administrator, declined comment.

 

 

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