Many of the 1.5 million residents in nursing facilities in the U.S. are victims of mistreatment. In some cases, the nursing staff neglects these patients, or caregivers, visitors, employees, and other residents abuse, sexually assault, or mistreat the patient.
If your loved one was injured while living in a Saint Lucie County nursing facility, contact the Florida nursing home affiliate attorneys now for immediate legal intervention. Let our team of abuse prevention lawyers handle your case to ensure your family is adequately financially compensated for your damages. Let us begin working on your case today.
This Medicare and Medicaid-participating facility is a "for-profit" center providing services to residents of Port Saint Lucie and Saint Lucie County, Florida. The 120-certified bed long-term care home is located at:
1655 SE Walton Road
Port Saint Lucie, Florida 34952
(772) 337-1333
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Emerald Health Care Center offers other services. Additional focused care includes short-term and long term care.
Federal and state investigators have a legal obligation to penalize any nursing home that violated a rule or regulation that harmed or could have harmed a resident. These penalties typically include imposed monetary fines or denial of payment for Medicare services. Usually, the higher the violation, the higher the fine.
The nursing home received eight complaints over the last three years that resulted in a violation citation. Additional information concerning the facility can be reviewed on the comprehensive Florida Adult Protective Services Website.
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Our attorneys review data on every long-term and intermediate care facility on Medicare.com and the Florida Department of Public Health website.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, two out of five stars for staffing issues, and five out of five stars for quality measures.
The state investigators determined that the nursing home “failed to accurately complete the weekly skincare assessments by failing to identify the presence of all skin issues, i.e. skin tears; [and] failed to follow Physician’s orders. The facility also failed to follow Physician’s recommendations for the discontinuation of antipsychotic medication for [another resident] reviewed for unnecessary medications.”
The state survey team interviewed a resident on January 3, 2017, with “a dressing on their right forearm dated 12/31. There was noted discoloration underneath the dressing.” A follow-up observation of the resident’s arm the next day on January 4, 2017, at 2:00 PM again, revealed “[the resident’s] right arm remained with the 12/31 dressing and was noted [with] drainage apparent from the circular wound delineation on the dressing.”
The investigative team interviewed the Wound Care Nurse who “stated she does not recall seeing the wound on this date, but the wound is to have steri-strips because we are bringing the tissue together.” Fourteen minutes later, a follow-up observation with the Wound Care Nurse was made. She “acknowledged that the dressing was dated December 31, 2016, four days ago. She then removed the old dressing, and there was noted dark dried blood on the wound dressing.”
The facility “failed to follow through with a Pharmacy Recommendation related to [a resident’s] long-term use of [a medication].” A review of the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) revealed a cognitive rating of two based on a scale of 1 to 15 with 15 being “the highest level of cognition.”
The resident was receiving medications three times every day through a Health Care Provider’s order. The resident’s Care Plan referred to the resident’s medical condition indicating that the patient was “at risk for side effects from antianxiety medication use and included the intervention to administer medications as ordered per the Health Care Provider.”
A previous Care Plan indicated that there was a nutritional risk with the resident’s medical condition, and the resident was to be administered vitamin C and iron. However, the resident’s “monthly pharmacy recommendations disclose no recommendations included for [numerous month].”
A review of a previous pharmacist recommendation disclosed “please consider evaluating iron stores or decreasing to 325mg daily.” The Director of Nursing stated that “the pharmacy recommendation had not yet been forwarded to [the resident’s] Health Care Provider for review.”
Do you believe that your loved one is the victim of mistreatment, abuse, or neglect while living at Emerald Health Care Center? Contact the Florida nursing home abuse prevention lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. We represent Saint Lucie County victims of abuse and neglect in all areas, including Port Saint Lucie.
It is always free to discuss your case with our legal team. We provide a 100% “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing until we can secure a financial recovery on your behalf. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Sources:
Attorney Blair N. Mendes, Esq.
Licensed in Florida
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home