Waterbury Nursing Home Ordered To Hire Nurse Consultant, Fined $5,000

A Waterbury nursing home has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and hire a nursing consultant after state health inspections uncovered numerous violations at the facility, including resident neglect and unsanitary conditions. Terms of the agreement, reached between Rosegarden Health & Rehabilitation Center and the state Department of Public Health, are revealed in a July 9 consent order recently released by DPH. Thirty violations were uncovered at the center during a series of unannounced DPH inspections of the facility that occurred between Nov. 25 and Dec. 10, 2013.

Doc Surrenders License To Operate Westport Surgical Center

A Westport plastic surgery center that state health officials placed on a two-year probation last summer has closed, ending a string of disciplinary actions taken against the facility. Dr. Joel Singer, the sole owner and operator of the Center for Ambulatory Surgery (CAS), has voluntarily surrendered the facility’s license to operate its outpatient center at 32 Imperial Ave. in Westport, according to an affidavit filed with the state Department of Public Health. The decision to surrender the license cannot be reversed and “constitutes disciplinary action,” the affidavit says. Singer has agreed that he will not seek to reinstate the center’s license at any time in the future, according to the filing.

Six Nursing Homes Fined Following Lapses In Care

Six nursing homes were cited by the state Department of Public Health following lapses in care, including an accidental medication overdose, falls that resulted in injuries and failing to monitor residents. Paradigm Healthcare Center of Torrington was cited and fined $1,160 in March after a January incident in which a resident being treated for hypertension, chronic pulmonary disease and lymphoma was given an accidental overdose of medication. A nurse mistakenly gave the resident 2.5 milliliters of morphine sulfate, 10 times the 0.25-milileter dose ordered by the treating physician, records show. The overdose resulted in lowered blood pressure and slowed breathing in the resident, who was taken to the emergency room and later discharged back to the center. Officials at the facility did not return a phone call seeking comment.

New Haven Drug Treatment Facility Placed On Probation, Fined

A New Haven substance abuse treatment center has been censured and fined $2,500 for multiple violations, including allowing clients to take a 2013 limousine ride to City Hall to vote with alcohol in the vehicle. Crossroads Inc. was also placed on probation for two years and will be required to hire an independent contractor to provide six months of updates on whether the facility is making improvements and is in compliance with state regulations. Board chairperson Genoveva Palmieri agreed to the penalties in a June 27 consent order with the state Department of Public Health. During inspections in June, September and November 2013, the center was found to have multiple violations of state regulations, including failing to provide a safe and clean environment, failing to properly supervise residents and failing to safely control medication, smoking and sharp objects, DPH records show. Palmieri and Clifford Skolnick, who became executive director on June 23, said Monday that many changes are being made to comply with the state regulations.

Nursing Homes Fined For Care Lapses, One Cited After Resident Molested Residents

Six nursing homes have been fined more than $1,000 each by the state Department of Public Health in connection with incidents of residents being burned, losing teeth or breaking hips and one resident who molested at least seven others. On March 25, Masonicare of Newtown was fined $1,590 in connection with at least nine incidents in which one resident inappropriately touched the legs, groin or breasts of at least seven female residents. The DPH citation detailed that the resident made sexual comments toward or touched female staff members, visitors and residents between August and November of 2013. Though the resident was placed on one-to-one supervision at times and was twice sent to a psychiatric facility, DPH concluded that the home had failed to consistently correct the resident’s behavior or prevent the sexual abuse. Margaret Steeves, a Masonicare spokeswoman, said some residents with advanced dementia can display this type of behavior and “these behaviors can be difficult to manage.” The home used a number of interventions, including psychiatric interventions, to control the behavior while respecting the rights of all residents, she said.

DPH Fines Stamford Convalescent Home, Requires Hiring A Consultant

A Stamford convalescent home has been fined $2,000 by the state Department of Public Health for numerous violations, including a failure to protect residents and staff members from a knife-wielding resident. Long Ridge of Stamford signed a consent order with DPH on May 20 agreeing to the fine and to hiring a consultant to monitor nearly all aspects of its operation, including nursing care, customer service, dietary services, staff interaction and nursing supervision. In a letter last July to the care and convalescent home, DPH officials outlined 17 pages of violations of state regulations ranging from a failure to respond to residents’ complaints to a failure to provide psychiatric care for the aggressive patient who threatened employees and another resident at knifepoint on March 15, 2013. Long Ridge’s administrator could not be reached for comment. In the case of the aggressive resident, DPH found that the home failed to provide one-on-one supervision of the person and failed to obtain an emergency certificate to have the resident transferred to a psychiatric facility.

Resident’s Abusive Behavior, Nurses’ Failure To Call 911, Result In Nursing Home Fines

Eight Connecticut nursing homes have been fined by the state Department of Public Health for incidents involving lapses in care, including a failure to call 911 when a resident was dying and a case in which one resident attacked another with a butter knife. On April 29, the Norwichtown Rehabilitation and Care Center was fined $1,160 in connection with a Feb. 23 incident in which 911 was not called when a resident with severe heart and kidney problems was found without vital signs, records show. CPR was performed for five minutes before an advanced practice registered nurse ordered it stopped because the person had died, but a registered nurse mistakenly told the APRN that it had gone on for 15 minutes, records show. A doctor at the home said that a longer CPR session would not have saved the resident, but the home was faulted for not ensuring that 911 was called, records show.

As CT Smoking Rates Decline, County Disparities Remain

Although smoking rates in Connecticut decreased between 1996 and 2012, striking disparities persist among counties, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The widest gap existed between Windham County, a rural area with the state’s highest overall smoking rate (15.6 percent), and Fairfield County, one of the wealthiest regions in the country, which had the state’s lowest smoking rate (9.5 percent). About twelve percent of the state’s population smoked cigarettes in 2012. “You’ll find lots of variations among counties even within small states like Connecticut that have successfully lowered smoking rates compared to other states in the nation,” said Ali Mokdad, professor of global health at IHME and one of the study’s authors. The IHME study looked at smoking prevalence – the percentage of the population that smokes – between 1996 and 2012.

Four Nursing Homes Fined, One For Abuse Of A Resident

The state Department of Public Health has fined four nursing homes more than $1,000 each for one case of physical abuse and incidents that left residents with cuts, bruises and a broken bone. On Jan. 23, Arden House in Hamden was fined $1,020 in connection with an incident of physical abuse of a resident by a nurse’s aide, DPH records show. On Oct. 31, a resident who had a history of making unsubstantiated allegations against staff members said a nurse’s aide undressed him or her and pinched him or her in the groin, records show.

Med Board Fines Anesthesiologist After Patient Death, Revokes Two Licenses

A Trumbull anesthesiologist who mistakenly administered a fatal dose of Lidocaine to a patient during surgery in May 2013 was reprimanded and fined $7,500 Tuesday by the state Medical Examining Board. Dr. Sandra Congdon made the mistake while the patient was undergoing surgery at the Surgery Center of Fairfield County in Trumbull, state Department of Public Health records show. When the patient’s blood pressure dropped during the procedure, Congdon inadvertently administered the anesthetic Lidocaine instead of Hespan, which is used to expand blood plasma when a patient goes into shock, records show. The patient showed no pulse and received cardiac life support before being transferred to the emergency department at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, DPH records show.