The state of New York and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) conduct routine investigations, surveys and inspections of every nursing facility statewide. Their efforts help to identify serious violations, safety concerns and deficiencies surrounding substandard care and harm to residents. When these violations are identified, the facility is provided the opportunity to make necessary corrections promptly. Any failure to do so could have serious financial consequences, including shuttering their doors or selling the operation of their nursing home to another company in good standing.
In egregious cases, the state surveyors and investigators and designate the nursing home as a Special Focus Facility (SFF). Once the nursing home is added to the national Medicare watch list, the administration and nursing staff must take appropriate measures to revise their policies and procedures and make necessary corrections to improve the level of care they provide every resident.
Recently, Focus Rehabilitation And Nursing Center At Otsego was designated a Special Focus Facility. Likely, the Home will remain on the watch list until investigators are satisfied that any changes in improvements made are permanent. Some safety violations, health concerns and deficiencies involving Focus Rehab are detailed below.
This facility is a ‘for profit’ 174 certified bed Long-Term Care Center providing cares and services to residents of Cooperstown and Otsego County, New York. The Home is located at:
128 Phoenix Mills Cross Road
Cooperstown, NY 13326
(607) 544-2600
The state of New York routinely updates their long-term care home database systems to reflect all dangerous hazards, filed complaints, safety concerns, health violations, opened investigations, and incident inquiries. This information can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Focus Rehabilitation And Nursing Center At Otsego maintains an overall two out of five stars compared to all nursing homes in the US. This ranking includes one out of five stars for health inspections, four out of five stars for staffing issues, and four stars for quality measures. Over the last 36 months, the New York Nursing Home State Agency has received 23 formally filed complaints and 21 facility-reported issues that after investigations all resulted in citations. Some of the major concerns, safety violations and deficiencies involving this facility include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 28, 2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “conduct a minimum required background checks on new employees. The facility may not employ individuals with a finding entered into the State Nurse Aide Registered concerning abuse, neglect or mistreatment.” The deficiency specifically identified that the “facility hired three … new employees reviewed without knowledge of the result of the required State Nurse Aide Registry Check. This [failure] resulted in no actual harm with the potential for minimal harm.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated June 3, 2016, the state investigator noted that the facility “did not ensure all alleged violations of mistreatment, neglect or abuse, including injuries of unknown source were the Administrator and facility and two other officials in accordance with State Law.” This deficiency involved three residents “reviewed for abuse and neglect.”
Specifically, the incident involved a Registered Nurse Supervisor who “became aware of an allegation of neglect and did not immediately report it to the Administration. For [the resident], the facility was aware of multiple allegations regarding a Certified Nursing Assistant’s mistreatment of [the resident]. Subsequently, there was a witnessed incident of abuse of [the resident] on April 3, 2016.
Additionally, upon return from an emergency room visit, another resident “stated her arm had been pulled during a transfer … to bed and she was in excruciating pain. The x-ray revealed a dislocated shoulder which requires surgical intervention. There is no evidence of an investigation to determine the injury of unknown origin.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 28, 2015, the state surveyor noted the facility “did not ensure that a resident with pressure sores received necessary treatment services to prevent new pressure sores from developing.” This deficiency affected two residents at the facility. Specifically, “the facility did not ensure proper tracking was completed to monitor the pressure areas on a weekly basis.”
The state investigator reminded the facility of their Policy and Procedure for Skin and Wound Assessment, Treatment, and Tracking document that reads in part:
“The nursing staff is responsible for tracking the lesion on a weekly basis, and that information regarding measurements, descriptions, and progress are entered onto the Wound Evaluation Form.”
The surveyor interviewed the facility’s Registered Nurse Unit Manager on July 24, 2015, who stated that “there were no wound tracking records [before] June 3, 2015” regarding that resident.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 28, 2015, the state investigator noted that the facility “did not ensure the resident environment remained as free of accident hazards as was possible, and that each resident received adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.”
Specifically, the surveyor found that “a resident who had no known history of falls, the facility did not assess for and implement fall prevention interventions. Subsequently, the resident fell and sustained a subdural hematoma (a potentially life-threatening accumulation of blood on the brain). Additionally, for [the resident], the facility did not implement fall prevention interventions when she fell three times in one day and did not implement Care Plan interventions [before] the fourth fall. Subsequently, the resident fell and sustained a fractured nose.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 28, 2015, the state surveyor noted that the facility “failed to have an [effective] assessment placed to ensure critical medications were administered to all residents as ordered by the physician. The facility lacked an effective system that resulted in twelve of twenty-six residents not receiving significant necessary medications. Specifically, a record review for May, June, and July 2015 revealed that thirteen of twenty-six residents did not receive specific medications on multiple occasions.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 20, 2015, the state surveyor noted the facility “did not maintain clinical records on each resident in accordance with accepted professional standards and practices that are complete, accurately documented, readily accessible, and systematically organized.”
This deficiency involved a resident “who closed his hand in a door and sustained a fracture, complained of head and neck pain and had a CT of the head ordered, had a fall and sustained an abrasion to his knee; all three incidents lacked appropriate nursing monitoring and documentation.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 3, 2016, the state investigator noted that the facility had “failed to provide required cares and services for [a resident] who was dependent on staff for assistance with Care Plan activities of daily living (ADLs).” Specifically, “on May 29, 2016, the facility staff did not [assist] with the resident’s ADLs including turning and positioning, incontinence care, food, and hydration, and did not attempt to administer medications on the day shift. Also, [the staff] did not provide turning and repositioning, and incontinence care on the evening and night shift, and did not perform neurological checks on the night shift.”
The state investigator noted that the facility staff, including licensed staff members, were aware that the resident did not receive care, and did not intervene to prevent neglect. [These failures] resulted in immediate jeopardy to the resident’s health or safety and substandard quality of care for [the resident] and had the potential to affect all residents in the facility.”
The surveyor noted that the facility “was aware multiple allegations regarding [a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) had mistreated the resident].” The “facility did not provide timely care and services after the resident complained to licensed staff on three occasions from May 18, 2016, through May 20, 2016.” This is when “the staff had pulled on, or mishandled her arm, and subsequent complaints of pain for which she was medicated eight times during this time period.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 3, 2016, the state investigator noted that the facility “did not Ensure that residents receive proper treatment and care for special services.” This deficiency involved two residents “reviewed [who] were receiving oxygen treatment. Specifically, the facility did not have procedures and placed to monitor residents receiving action effectively.”
In one incident, a resident “did not have a Comprehensive Care Plan to address or oxygen use or her ability to self-administer the oxygen and there was no procedure in place to monitor the oxygen tank.” This deficiency resulted “in the oxygen [tank] running out.” The resident “did not receive the prescribed oxygen flow rate.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 31, 2017, the state investigator “determined that each resident did not receive adequate supervision to prevent accidents.” Also, the surveyor noted that “the environment was not free from accident hazards for [five resident units].” Specifically, for the resident, “the facility did not ensure the resident received the ordered diet texture on March 20, 2017. Additionally, trip and accident hazards were found on all units.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 22, 2017, the state investigator noted that the facility “did not ensure all allegations involving abuse, neglect or mistreatment were thoroughly investigated, and steps were taken to prevent further potential abuse, neglect, exploitation or mistreatment while the investigation was in process.” The surveyor noted that specifically “the facility did not initiate investigations on August 5, 2017, one of the residents voiced complaints regarding care and treatment rendered by a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).”
The resident’s also said that the facility “did not remove the CNA from the resident’s contact. The facility’s Administration began investigations into the resident’s complaints August 7, 2017. However, review of the investigations determined the investigations were not thorough or complete. Also, the facility did not conduct the minimum required background checks on new employees.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 22, 2017, the state surveyor noted that the facility “did not ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control Program was maintained [to] prevent, recognize, control, to the extent possible, the onset and spread of infection.”
Specifically, for the resident, the investigator noted that the facility “did not ensure that Contact Precautions for addressing change on a wound with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were maintained when the facility staff did not use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).” In specific findings for the resident, “the facility did not ensure the facility staff disinfected the glucometer and a pulse oximeter after each resident use.”
If you believe that your loved one suffered abuse, mistreatment or neglect while a patient at Focus Rehabilitation And Nursing Center At Otsego, contact a personal injury attorney now. With legal representation, your family can build a case for compensation to ensure you receive the monetary recovery you deserve. Your lawyer can file your claim, hire investigators, build a case, present evidence to the claims adjuster or jury to resolve your case.
No upfront retainers or fees are required because personal injury attorneys accept all nursing home abuse claims for compensation through contingency fee arrangements. These agreements allow immediate legal representation from filing to resolving without making a payment. The attorney is paid only if and when they have successfully resolved your case with adequate financial compensation. This “no win/no pay” guarantee provides victims the peace of mind they need to heal from their injuries while the attorney does all the work at obtaining compensation.
Sources:
Attorney Jennifer Wilson
Licensed in New York
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home