Information & Ratings on Frontier Health & Rehabilitation (Violations)

Your loved one's care is obviously incredibly important to you. When they are not receiving the right care, it can be deleterious to both their health and their psyche. That is clearly not what you want to see when they are in need of help. This becomes magnified exponentially when the nursing home at which they reside is mistreating or abusing them. With the right lawyer on your side, you can not only put a stop to such problems, but you can also be compensated for the harm that your family member has suffered. This is very difficult to do on your own without the help of an attorney, who is experienced in bringing legal actions against a nursing home. Our elders are our greatest resource, and an attorney can make sure that they are properly treated at a nursing home.

Frontier Health & Rehabilitation is a Medicare and Medicaid certified facility. It is a large facility with 180 certified beds and it offers services to residents of St. Charles, MO and the Greater Saint Louis area. It has for-profit ownership and it is located at:

2840 W Clay St 
St Charles, MO 63301
(636) 946-6100

Nursing homes have been subject to federal regulations for nearly 30 years. These are requirements for participation in Medicare and Medicaid. Given that a large amount of a nursing home's residents' expenses are covered by either of these two programs, they must stay in compliance with these regulations in order to be able to continually accept new patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has many tools at their disposal to punish skilled nursing facilities that do not follow these regulations. Several of these punishments have recently been applied to Frontier Health & Rehabilitation.

In March 2018,Frontier Health & Rehabilitation was assessed a $8,775 by the federal government. It was also issued a payment denial by Medicare, who has the power to refuse to pay for expenses associated with new patients if there are violations that that have been unaddressed for 90 days. This is a drastic step to take because it has a direct impact on the nursing home's bottom line. The fine was issued after an investigation initiated in response to a complaint found various issues relating to pressure ulcers, including failure to manage a patient's pain during treatment and failure to update a resident's care plan regarding a pressure ulcer.

The most recent inspection was conducted in September 2018, six months after the fine was levied and the payment denial issued. The inspection still resulted in 13 health citations against the facility, which is more than double the national average. While this inspection report should be troubling, it was actually an improvement over the previous examination carried out in 2017 which revealed 22 health citations.

The 2018 inspection report revealed deficiencies in a number of areas. First, the cleanliness and appearance of the facility were below standards. There were numerous instances of chipped paint and mold as well as dirt and debris. Mold and dirt make for an unsafe environment because they can make residents sick. In addition, there were numerous gaps in residents' care plans shortly after they were admitted. A nursing home must have a care plan within 48 hours of admission of the resident to address their most pressing needs and this facility failed to do so properly for many patients since critical areas on the plans were blank. 

There were other instances in which staff failed to give residents the day-to-day care that they needed. For example, several residents were not afforded help with hygiene and grooming when they could not do these on their own. Other residents were not given appropriate activities to busy themselves and there was no evidence that some residents participated at all in group activities. Further, one resident developed a urinary tract infection because the facility did not provide the appropriate bladder care to prevent it.

Medicare recently gained the power to penalize nursing homes based on the rate of hospitaliztion among their residents. They can dock a facility up to two percent of its reimbursements depending on a formula. Frontier Health & Rehabilitation received a penalty. There are 2.25 hospitalizations per 1000 resident days, above the national average of 1.7. 

The attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center stand at the ready to assist you when you encounter situations such as these. From seriously deficient care to occurrences of mistreatment and abuse, we can help you navigate the legal issues when your loved one is being placed in harm's way by the facility that is supposed to be caring for them. Call us today at (800) 726-9565 and tell us how your loved one is being mistreated and we can let you know of any potential legal options available to you and your family. If you retain our services, we can help you with your case from start to finish, including trial if it is necessary. Enlist our expertise and experience on behalf of your family. 

Sources:

• Medicare cuts payments to nursing homes whose patients keep ending up in the hospital
• Inspection Report
• Inspection Report