Nursing Homes Fined Following Resident Sexual Assault, Falls, Medication Error

Six nursing homes have been fined by the state Department of Public Health (DPH) for violations that endangered or injured residents. Apple Rehab West Haven was fined $6,960 after a resident reported being sexually assaulted by a visitor. On Oct. 2, 2018, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) saw the resident and a male visitor naked in the resident’s room, and the resident told the LPN they’d just had sex, according to DPH. The LPN asked the resident several times if she was alright and the resident replied that the male was her boyfriend.

Nursing Homes Fined After Resident’s Death, Care Lapses

State health officials have fined five nursing homes at least $1,500 each in connection with residents who were abused or injured and one who died in July after being outside in sweltering heat for hours. On Aug. 10, Gardner Heights Health Care Center in Shelton was fined $3,000 in connection with a resident who died after being outside in a garden for more than three hours on July 27 in 95-degree weather, according to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) citation. The resident, who frequently sat in the garden, was in good condition at 2:30 p.m. that day but at 5 p.m., was found to be unresponsive and died about 40 minutes later, the citation said. A review of video at the home could not substantiate that the resident had been checked by staff between 2:30 and 5 p.m., the citation said.

Seven Nursing Homes Fined For Injuries

Seven nursing homes have been fined at least $1,200 in connection with residents who were verbally abused or who suffered cuts or broken bones. The state Department of Public Health (DPH) fined Madison House in Madison a total of $3,640 in separate citations on Feb. 5 and March 3. It was fined $1,940 in connection with a nurse’s aide who was verbally abusive to a resident on Aug. 8.

Two Nursing Homes Cited After Resident Deaths

Seven nursing homes were recently fined more than $1,000 each by the state Department of Public Health, including a Bridgeport home and a Hamden facility that were each cited in connection with the death of a resident. The residents who died were at Bridgeport Manor and Arden House Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Hamden. On Nov. 24, Bridgeport Manor was fined $1,020 in connection with the Oct. 6 death of a resident whose tracheostomy tube was dislodged.

Nursing Homes Cited After Two Residents Died, Another Sexually Assaulted

Seven Connecticut nursing homes have been fined by the state Department of Public Health in connection with lapses in care, including one sexual assault of a resident by another resident and two cases in which residents died. Other cases involved residents who developed pressure sores, one who sustained a cut on the forehead during a fall and another who left a home and wandered across the street. The Kent Ltd. of Kent, which is owned by Apple Rehab, was fined $1,195 on April 4 in connection with two residents for whom CPR was delayed or stopped without a doctor’s order, records show. On May 5, 2013, there was a delay of nine minutes in starting CPR on an 88-year-old resident while a supervisor was notified and while equipment was gathered, records show.

Four Nursing Homes Cited, One After Resident Dies

Four nursing homes have been fined by the state Department of Public Health in connection with incidents in which one resident died, another was verbally abused and several female residents were touched inappropriately by a resident. On March 13, 2014, Ledge Crest Health Care Center in the Kensington section of Berlin was fined $780 in connection with a March 2013 incident involving the resident who died. Records show the resident had chronic constipation and was supposed to be monitored for abdominal discomfort and vomiting. Despite the vomiting and low blood pressure on March 4, 2013, a nurse’s note failed to say whether a doctor had been notified about the change in the resident’s condition and failed to show whether additional blood pressure checks had been done, DPH records said. State records report that six hours later, the resident was admitted to a hospital for gastrointestinal bleeding and sepsis, a life-threatening inflammation prompted by an infection.