Do you suspect that the injury your loved one obtained while living in a Los Angeles County nursing facility could have been prevented had the nursing staff followed the established procedures and protocols? Was there harm through resident-to-resident abuse or staff-to-resident negligence? If so, contact the California Nursing Home Law Center Attorneys now for legal assistance.
Let our team of abuse prevention lawyers handle your case to take quick legal action. We have handled cases like yours and can help your family, too. Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today to ensure you receive financial compensation from recovering your damages.
This long-term care home is a "city government-owned" 8-certified bed center providing care and services to residents of Avalon and Los Angeles County, California. The Medicare and Medicaid-participating facility is located at:
100 Falls Canyon Rd
Avalon, California 90704
(310) 510-0700
Catalina Island Medical Center Skilled Nursing Facility
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Catalina Island Medical Center Skilled Nursing Facility offers other services. Additional focused attention includes short-term and long term care, and physical, occupational, and speech therapies.
California nursing home regulators and federal inspectors have the legal authority to penalize any nursing home identified as violating rules and regulations that harmed or could have harmed a resident. Typically, these penalties include monetary fines and denial of payment of medical services.
Additional information concerning the facility can be reviewed on the comprehensive California Department of Social Services Adult Protective Services Website.
Call (800) 926-7565 Toll-Free for a No Obligation Consultation
Your family can visit Medicare.gov and the California Department of Public Health website to obtain a complete list of all violations, citations, and deficiencies identified by investigators and surveyors.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including two out of five stars concerning health inspections, one out of five stars for staffing issues, and two out of five stars for quality measures.
The state investigators determined that the nursing home "failed to ensure medications [were] used only to treat specific, diagnosed medical conditions and were not used for staff convenience to lessen the burden of care for the resident.” The investigation involved a resident with significant health conditions, including “a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.”
The deficient practice “abusing medications to control behaviors not related to specific, diagnosed medical conditions violated [the resident’s] right to be free from chemical restraint and increased the risk that her health and well-being would be negatively affected from experiencing adverse effects of unnecessary medications.”
The investigators reviewed the resident’s Care Plan that “was supposed to be monitored for target behavior symptoms ([involving] pacing, wandering, inappropriate responses to verbal communication, not leaving the bathroom, or allowing care, etc.) and that those behaviors should be documented per facility protocol.” The investigator stated that the Behavior Monthly Flowsheet “did not contain any documented incidents of targeted behaviors.”
The resident’s recent Psychiatric Consultation Note dated January 4, 2019, indicated that the resident “had recurrent, moderate and major [medical issues]. However, the psychiatric consultation made no mention of anxiety disorder.” The consultation “did not discuss the target behaviors related to the use of [an antidepressant medication].”
The facility “failed to ensure the licensed nurses were screened for a criminal background check and were provided with the training on abuse prevention on April 2, 2005. This deficient practice placed the residents at risk for elder abuse.”
A review of the employee files showed “no documented evidence that a pre-employment screening, including a history of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment of residents was done for both Registered Nurses (RNs). There was also no documented evidence that [both RN’s] had received training on abuse prevention. Concurrently, during an interview, the Director of Human Resources stated that [both RNs] did not have a current background check and did not have current training of abuse prevention in their files.”
The Director stated that “all new hires are to receive training on abuse prevention.”
Do you believe that your loved one is the victim of mistreatment, abuse, or neglect while living at Catalina Island Medical Center Skilled Nursing Facility? Contact the California nursing home abuse prevention lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. We represent Los Angeles County victims of abuse and neglect in all areas, including Avalon.
We provide every potential client a free initial case consultation and offer a 100% “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This promise means you will not pay us anything until after we have secured a monetary recovery on your behalf. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Sources:
Attorney Anthony Lanzone
Licensed in California
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home