Not all cases of neglect or abuse that occur in nursing homes are obvious like when the victim suffers a hematoma, broken bone or another noticeable injury that could have been prevented. In some cases, the family remains unaware that caregivers, employees, visitors, and other residents have mistreated their loved one until it is too late.
If your loved one was victimized at a Gibson County or Madison County nursing facility, the Tennessee Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can help. Our dedicated team of legal experts fights aggressively to protect the rights of our clients and ensure that they are adequately compensated for their financial losses. Let us begin working on your case today to help your family.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a "for profit" 50-certified bed long-term care center providing cares and services to residents of Humboldt and Gibson and Madison Counties, Tennessee. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating home is located at:
2400 Mitchell Street
Humboldt, Tennessee, 38343
(731) 784-5183
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Bailey Park Community Living Center also offers therapy services and high-quality health care.
Tennessee and the federal government have the legal obligation to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if the home has violated established nursing home regulations and rules. In severe cases, the nursing facility will receive multiple penalties if investigators find the violations are severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Within the last three years, the federal government imposed a massive monetary penalty against Bailey Park Community Living Center on April 2, 2017, for $299,493. During the last thirty-six months, Medicare denied payment for services rendered on April 2, 2017, due to substandard care. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Tennessee Department of Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing home.
To be fully informed on the level of care nursing homes provide, families routinely research the Tennessee Department of Public Health and Medicare.gov database systems for a complete list of safety concerns, incident inquiries, opened investigations, filed complaints, dangerous hazards, and health violations. This information provides valuable content to make a well-informed decision of where to place a loved one who requires the highest level of hygiene assistance and health care.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, three out of five stars for staffing issues and four out of five stars for quality measures. The Gibson and Madison Counties neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Bailey Park Community Living Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated for April 11, 2018, the state investigators noted that the nursing home had failed to “provide a safe smoking environment for two residents who were observed smoking.” One incident involved a resident who “had severe cognitive impairment.”
The state investigators observed the designated smoking area on the afternoon of April 9, 2018. Their observations revealed that the cognitively impaired resident was smoking “an entire cigarette, and the ashes dropped to the ground, and after he completed smoking the cigarette, [the resident] placed a cigarette in an ashtray with smoke coming from the cigarette, and the ashtray was full of ashes and cigarette butts. The ashtray full of cigarette butts was left sitting on the table and not disposed of in the red cigarette extinguisher can.”
A separate incident involved another resident who “had moderate cognitive impairment.” This resident was observed on the afternoons of April 9, 2018, and April 10, 2018, in the designated smoking area when the resident “flicked the ashes from the entire cigarette on the pavement next to the grass. Cigarette ashes and butts were left in the ashtray on top of the table.”
The state investigator interviewed the Director of Nursing on April 11, 2018, and asked, “where the cigarette ashes and butts should be disposed.” The Director responded, “In the can outside.” The Director was then asked, “if it was acceptable for a resident to drop or flick ashes on the pavement.” The Director responded, “no ma’am.” When asked when the ashtray with ashes and cigarette but should be emptied, the Director responded, “Immediately.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 11, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “ensure the resident’s urinary catheter tubing and the bag did not touch the floor.” The Nursing Home also failed to “ensure the urinary catheter was properly secured in place and failed to ensure the urinary catheter drainage bag was kept below the level of the bladder.” This deficient practice involved one resident “reviewed with an indwelling urinary catheter.”
The survey team reviewed the facility Indwelling Urinary Catheters policy that reads in part:
“The catheter should be anchored to prevent tension on the catheter. The preferred method in men: The penis should lie over the lower abdomen with the catheter secured to the abdomen. Avoid letting the drainage bag touch the floor. Keep the drainage bag in a dependent position.”
The state investigator observed a resident on the mornings of April 9, 2018, and April 10, 2018, that revealed “the urinary catheter bag and tubing lying on the floor.” In preparation for urinary catheter care, the CNA pulled the resident’s bed sheets back exposing the resident’s perineal area while the resident was “lying on the urinary catheter tubing.
The “urinary catheter tubing was not secured.” When the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) “picked up the urinary catheter bag, placed it on the resident’s bed, “it was] not below the level of the bladder.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 11, 2018, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure infection control practices were followed to prevent the spread of infection during a medication pass and urinary catheter care.” These failures were based on policy review, observations and interviews with three Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs).
The state investigator team observed a resident’s room that revealed an LPN “put one eye drop in the [resident’s] right eye, removed her gloves, did not perform hand hygiene and donned gloves to administer one eye drop to the left side.” In another incident, an observation was made of a different resident’s room that revealed the same LPN “cleaned a blood glucose machine with a bleach wipe and put it in a drawer.” The LPN “then pulled up insulin into a syringe, entered [the resident’s] room, applied gloves, and administered the injection without performing hand hygiene.” The LPN then was observed in a third resident’s room providing the resident care and “did not wipe the skin with alcohol before applying a new medication patch to the left shoulder.
A Certified Nursing Assistant was observed in a resident’s room after donning gloves “without performing hand hygiene” and entering a resident’s room. The CNA performed urinary catheter care at the resident’s side and “picked up the fall mat from the floor and moved it over next to the couch.” Two Certified Nursing Assistants then “entered the bathroom, removed their gloves, and donned another pair of gloves, without performing hand hygiene.”
The investigative team interviewed the Director of Nursing on the afternoon of April 11, 2018 and asked the Director “if he expected his staff to wash hands with glove use.” The Director replied, “Yes.” When asked “if he expected the nurse to clean an old patch site after removal, the Director replied, “Yes.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 2, 2017, the state investigator noted the facility's failure to "have evidence that all allegations of abuse were thoroughly investigated and reported to the State Agency involving [one resident’s] allegation of abuse.” The investigative team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse or Neglect Prevention Plan that reads in part:
“The resident has the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse, corporal punishment, and involuntary seclusion. The facility will ensure that all alleged violations involving mistreatment, neglect, abuse are reported immediately to the administration and other officials [according to] state law in Tennessee.” “An oral or written report shall be made immediately to the Tennessee Department of Human Services upon knowledge of the occurrence of suspected abuse.”
The incident was documented by the Director of Nursing concerning “allegations of abuse against” a resident and her roommate. The resident stated that a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) “woke her from sleep [and] told her she was wet, and she needed to go to the bathroom and change herself.” The resident stated that “the same CNA started rough handling that other woman [the other resident].”
The documentation shows that the CNA “slung” the resident “onto the bed and the resident made a grunting noise and she heard the bed springs make noise.” The MDS coordinator and Director of Nursing were informed that evening that the same CNA assisted the resident “to the bathroom. While in the bathroom, [the resident] stated she heard a ‘slap” and [the resident] say ‘don’t hit me.’”
That same evening, the reporting resident stated that the CNA “pulled off the resident’s pants, then kicked or just below the bend of her knee, in the upper posterior calf.” The survey team noted that the facility’s investigation “failed to reflect sufficient evidence to determine that no abuse occurred.”
The investigators interviewed the Director of Nursing and asked, “If the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) had been suspended during this investigation of alleged abuse.” The Director responded, “she was suspended [between] January 29, 2017, and January 31, 2017, and came back to work on February 1, 2017.”
The investigators asked the Director if “It was true that this investigation was not reported to the State.” The Director responded, “Correct” stating that she received the information from the Regional Nurse Consultant. The investigators interviewed the facility Administrator and asked, “If this incident of alleged abuse was reported to the state.” The Administrator responded, “No.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 2, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “provide care and treatment for constipation for [one resident] reviewed for constipation.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s Bowel Management policies that read in part:
“After the third day, if the resident has not had a bowel movement, a laxative should be given as ordered by the physician if the stool is hard, the nurse obtains an order for [treatment].”
The incident involved a review of a resident’s annual MDS (Minimum Data Set) that showed that the resident was “moderately impaired for cognitive skills for daily decision-making and always incontinent of bowel.” A review of the survey report revealed that the resident “did not have a bowel movement” between February 5, 2017, and February 8, 2017. The surveyors noted that there were “no interventions implemented for not having a bowel movement for over three days.”
If you believe your loved one has suffered serious injuries or died prematurely while residing at Bailey Park Community Living Center, contact the law offices of the Tennessee nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Gibson and Madison Counties victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Humboldt.
Our experienced attorneys provide victims of nursing home abuse the legal representation they need against all those who caused them harm. Our network of attorneys can offer numerous legal options on how to proceed to obtain the financial compensation your family deserves. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a monetary recovery claim. Let us begin working on your behalf to ensure your rights are protected.
We accept every case involving nursing home abuse, wrongful death or personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the need to pay for our legal services until after our legal team has resolved your claim for compensation through a jury trial award or negotiated settlement out of court. Our network of attorneys provides every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This promise means if our legal team is unable to obtain compensation on your behalf, you owe us nothing. We can provide legal representation starting today to ensure your family is adequately compensated for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Cameron Jehl
Licensed in Tennessee
Tennessee Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home