When family members place a loved one in a nursing facility they expect the nursing staff to provide a safe, secure, compassionate environment. However, many nursing home residents are victims of their caregivers through mistreatment, neglect or abuse even though there are strict state and federal laws that prohibit unacceptable caregiver behavior.
If you believe your loved one was neglected or abused in a nursing home, it is essential to take quick legal action. The attorneys at Tennessee Nursing Home Law Center have resolved many nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Sullivan and Hawkins Counties and can handle your family’s financial claim for compensation too.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating center is a 180-certified bed facility providing services to residents of Kingsport and Sullivan and Hawkins Counties, Tennessee. The "for profit" long-term care (LTC) home is located at:
2035 Stonebrook Place
Kingsport, Tennessee, 37660
(423) 246-8934
SFF Designation: Medicare has labeled Brookhaven Manor as a Special Focus Facility (SSF) because of persistently substandard quality of care as determined by federal and state inspection teams. This designation means that the nursing home is subjected to more frequent surveys and inspections, escalating monetary penalties and the potential of being terminated from Medicaid and Medicare.
Federal agencies and the State of Tennessee have a legal responsibility to monitor every nursing facility. If serious violations are identified, the governments can impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if the resident was harmed or could have been harmed by the deficiency. The federal nursing home regulatory agencies imposed a monetary penalty against Brookhaven Manor (SFF) within the last three years on one occasion on December 7, 2016, for $428,837, a significantly massive fine compared to other penalties imposed against other nursing homes.
Over the last thirty-six months, the nursing home has received five formally filed complaints and self-reported four serious issues that resulted in citations. Medicare also denied payment for services rendered on two occasions including on December 7, 2016, and March 21, 2018, 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 facility.
A list of opened investigations, safety concerns, filed complaints, incident inquiries, health violations, and dangerous hazards on statewide long-term care homes can be reviewed on database websites including the Tennessee Department of Public Health and Medicare.gov. Many families use this information to determine the best facility to place a loved one who requires the highest level of skilled health care and hygiene assistance.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars involving health inspections, three out of five stars for staffing issues and four out of five stars for quality measures. The Sullivan and Hawkins Counties neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies, hazard violations and safety concerns at Brookhaven Manor (SFF) that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated August 8, 2018, a state investigative team noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure personal protective equipment (PPE) was utilized [before] entering a resident’s room and hands washed [before] exiting the room.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “on contact isolation precautions.”
The state investigative team reviewed the facility policy titled: Isolation – Categories of Transmission-based Precautions revised January 2012 that reads in part:
“Wear gloves (clean, non-sterile) when entering the room. Where a disposable gown upon entering the Contact Precautions Room, remove gloves before leaving the room and perform hand hygiene.”
The incident involved a resident’s whose medical records revealed was “placed on contact precautions on August 1, 2018, for Extended Spectrum Data Lactamase (ESBL) in the urine (bacterial urine infection).”
An observation was made of the resident just after noon on August 6, 2018, during the 200 Hallway lunch service when a Certified Nursing Assistant entered the resident’s “room with the lunch tray without donning personal protective equipment (located outside the resident store). Continued observation revealed [that the CNA] exited the isolation room without washing their hands. Further observation revealed the sink readily available in the isolation room.”
The state investigator interviewed the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who “confirmed he failed to don PPE [before] entering the isolation room or to wash his hands [before] exiting the room after serving the resident the lunch tray.” The Director of Nursing was interviewed concerning the actions of the Certified Nursing Assistant and said that “He knows better than that.” The Director “revealed that the facility failed to ensure infection control precautions were utilized by staff or [that resident].”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 21, 2018, the state investigators noted that the facility had failed to “ensure that the Social Services Director fulfilled their duties and responsibilities when a resident was discharged, during the appeal process for an involuntary discharge.” The deficient practice by the administration involved one of three residents “reviewed for discharge.
The facility’s failure to ensure safe and orderly discharge resulted in the discharge of a [resident] to an unsafe environment and placed [the resident] in Immediate Jeopardy.” The severity of the deficiency is in the scope and severity of Level J, which constitute substandard quality of care.
The investigative team reviewed a resident’s medical records which showed that the resident was admitted to the facility following “an acute care hospital stay due to a traumatic subdermal hemorrhage requiring surgery.”
The cognitively intact resident’s interdisciplinary progress note dated December 21, 2017, revealed that staff “brought to the Administrator team concerns that the resident may have been smoking in one of the common areas of the facility this morning. The Administrator and this writer met with the resident in his room to discuss. The resident denied smoking in the common area. Initially, he refused to allow the Administrator to search his room, but then consented (and) also submitted a blue lighter that he had on his person.”
The Administrator reviewed the resident’s smoking policy and agreement and informed the resident that “his smoking privileges are now suspended. The resident acknowledged this.” The Administrator also informed the resident “that he would be issuing a 30-day discharge.” However, the survey team noted that there was “no evidence that the resident had received education and training on the smoking policy and the consequences of noncompliance [before] this incident.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyor’s reviewed the facility Process of Notice of Involuntary Discharge that was shown to be hand-delivered to the resident on December 21, 2017. Reviewing the notice revealed that the resident had “recently had multiple violations of the resident’s smoking rules.”
The state medication program (Choices) initiated a phone call to the Social Service Director asking why the resident “had been issued a 30-day notice.” The Social Services Director “told her it was a rule violation (smoking). She stated she was getting ready to call [the resident’s sister and] spoke with her again later and was advised [the sister] is going to start hunting places.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 24, 2018, the state investigative team documented the facility’s failure to “provide incontinence care for [a resident] reviewed for incontinence care.” The resident’s Medical Records showed that the resident “ was discharged from the facility on January 12, 2018.”
A review of the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) with the records dated October 14, 2017, revealed the resident “was rarely or never understood. Continue review revealed [that the resident] requires total dependence on nursing staff for toilet use and personal hygiene.” The resident’s Bladder Evaluation dated October 26, 2017 “revealed that the resident was incontinent of bowel and bladder at times. Continue review revealed he also went to the bathroom to void at times.”
The investigators reviewed the resident’s Care Plan dated November 1, 2017, that revealed the resident “was to be toileted every two hours and as needed and his clothing was to be changed after each incontinent episode. Continue record reviewed that the resident required assistance with hygiene and showering.”
The investigators interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) regarding a January 11, 2018 allegation by the caregiver.” The LPN confirmed that the resident’s “brief was very, very wet, [it] looks like he had voided more than once. His brief was really very wet.”
During a telephone interview with the resident’s caregiver, it was confirmed that “the resident was saturated with urine on January 9, 2018, and January 11, 2018, when she visited the resident in the facility.” The resident’s wife was interviewed on January 23, 2018 and confirmed: “that the resident was saturated with urine on January 9, 2018, when she visited the resident in the facility.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Administrator and the Director of Nursing on January 24, 2018, just after noon in the conference room and confirmed that “they were aware of the January 11, 2018 incident with [the resident], and staff re-education had been provided.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated August 20 18, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “provide dignity for [a resident] observed with a urinary catheter.” The surveyors reviewed the facility policy titled: Quality of Life – Dignity, revised August 2009 that read in part “Keep urinary catheter bags covered.”
The resident was documented as having severe mental, cognitive deficits and was observed outside the open door of the resident’s room and the 200 Hallway just before lunchtime on August 6, 2018. The hospice chaplain was at the resident’s bedside as a visitor.
Further observation “revealed a urinary collection bag approximately three-quarter full with yellow fluid visible from the hallway.” The survey team interviewed the facility Director of Nursing outside the resident’s door who “confirmed that the facility failed to maintain [the resident’s] dignity by not covering the urinary collection bag.”
If your loved one was victimized while living at Brookhaven Manor (SFF), call the Tennessee nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Sullivan and Hawkins Counties victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Kingsport.
Let our skilled attorneys file and handle your nursing home abuse compensation claim against all those who caused your loved one harm. Our years of experience ensure a successful resolution. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and complete a financial compensation claim. Let us start 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 services until after our legal team has resolved your claim for compensation through a jury trial award or negotiated settlement out of court.
We provide every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf, you owe our legal team nothing. Let us begin working on your case today to ensure your family is adequately compensated for the damages that caused your harm. 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