Many families must make the unenviable decision to place a loved one in a nursing home to ensure they receive the highest level of care in a safe, compassionate environment. Sadly, many nursing home patients become victims of abuse or neglect at the hands of caregivers, visitors, and other residents. The mistreatment can lead to severe injuries or wrongful death.
If your loved one was mistreated while residing in a Sumner County nursing home, the Tennessee Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal interventions. Our legal team has represented many injured patients and surviving family members to ensure that they receive adequate financial compensation to recover their monetary damages. We can help your family too. Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating long-term care (LTC) center is a "for profit" 207-certified bed home providing cares to residents of Gallatin and Sumner County, Tennessee. The facility is located at:
438 North Water Ave
Gallatin, Tennessee, 37066
(615) 452-2322
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, the Gallatin Health Care Center also offers:
Federal investigators have the legal authority to penalize nursing facilities with monetary fines and denied payment for Medicare when the nursing home is cited for serious violations of rules and regulations. Over the last three years, the government fined Gallatin Health Care Center once for $48,655 on 06/04/2017.
Within the last thirty-six months, the nursing home received four formally filed complaints and reported one serious issue that resulted in citations. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Tennessee Department of Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Our attorneys have obtained and reviewed data on all Tennessee long-term care homes from various online publically available sources including the TN Department of Public Health website and Medicare.gov. The information serves as an essential tool when making an informed decision of where to place a loved one in facility-care to identify opened investigations, safety concerns, filed complaints, incident inquiries, health violations, and dangerous hazards. Additionally, the data can help families better understand the type of care their loved one is currently receiving at the care center.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, three out of five stars for staffing issues and four out of five stars for quality measures. The Sumner County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Gallatin Health Care Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 20, 2018, a state survey team noted the nursing home's failure to “establish and maintain an infection protection and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary and comfortable environment.” The nursing home also failed to “help prevent the development and transmission of communicable diseases and infections for three of 159 residents.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Oxygen Administration that reads in part:
“Oxygen tubing will be changed as ordered [and as needed], and tubing will be dated to indicate the last day of the tubing change.”
The investigators reviewed a resident’s Medical Records and Quarterly MDS (Minimum Data Set) dated May 4, 2018, that revealed that the resident “was severely cognitively impaired.” The documentation also showed that the resident was receiving oxygen therapy through tubing that should be changed with the humidifier on “every night shift, every Sunday.”
The survey team observed a resident on the morning and late afternoon of June 18, 2018, and in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018, receiving oxygen through a nasal cannula at 2.0 Liters per minute. However, the “tubing was not dated” and the “nebulizer mask and tubing [were laying] in a chair, not dated or stored in a bag.” The investigators also saw the “oxygen tubing attached to the tank [that] was not updated or stored in a bag.”
The investigators interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who confirmed that “all oxygen tubing and masks should be dated, when the bag is not used.” The Director said that “nurses are responsible for changing oxygen tubing and tubing should be changed weekly.” The Director also “confirmed all irrigation syringes when opened should be dated and stored in a bag after use and that the facility failed to properly date and store masks, tubing, and syringes.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated June 4, 2017, the state investigators documented a failure. The notation showed a failure to “ensure practices to prevent the potential spread of infection were followed as evidenced by a failure of the facility to maintain contact isolation precautions” for one resident in contact isolation.”
This failure involved a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), and two Registered Nurses in charge of handling “linens appropriately after performing patient care.” Additionally, two Registered Nurses and a Certified Nursing Aide did not “perform hand hygiene [and the Registered Nurse failed to] properly dispose of bio-hazardous materials during wound care.”
The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Isolation of Transmission-Base Precautions that provides the nursing staff guidance on how to eliminate the spread of infection from one resident to others in the nursing home.
The investigators made numerous observations of the staff providing care in a way that violated facility policy that placed residents at risk of becoming infected through infectious contagions in the nursing home. As a part of the investigation, the surveyors interviewed the facility Director of Nursing and asked: “if it was acceptable to turn off the faucet with the same wet paper towel after handwashing?”
The Director replied, “No, now you have contaminated that sink and your hands” and said that it is not acceptable “to place a biohazard bag and the treatment cart trash in a regular trash bag.” The Director said that it was unacceptable “to carry used linens from a resident room in the hallway without placing it in a plastic bag.”
The facility Administrator stated that it is inappropriate “for soiled linens to be carried through the hallway to the soiled linen area without being contained.” The Administrator also said that the contaminated items “should be placed in the bag before it leaves the room.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 19, 2017, the state survey team documented a serious failure. The facility failed to “notify the physician of the failure to administer and as needed diuretic as ordered after a weight gain as ordered; the failure to obtain daily weights as ordered; and the failure to obtain the laboratory test as ordered.” The nursing home also failed to “administer a daily diuretic as ordered for [one resident of nine residents] reviewed.”
The investigators reviewed a resident’s medical records and Hospital Discharge Physician’s Orders directing the nursing staff to administer a diuretic “every day as needed” for the resident’s medical conditions or any weight gain of two pounds or more in one day or five pounds or more in five days.
As a result of the deficiencies by the nursing staff, the investigators interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who confirmed that “the facility failed to transcribe” the resident’s physician’s orders into the resident’s Medical Administration Record. The Director also confirmed that the nursing facility “failed to administer the medication as ordered.” The Director said that “if the medication was not administered, the Director of Nursing expected the reason to be documented on the back of the Medication Administration Record” which it was not.
The Director also confirmed that the nursing staff had “failed to obtain daily weights for the resident and failed to administer the ‘as needed’ medication on November 4, 2017, after a weight gain.” It was further confirmed that the facility “failed to obtain the October 10, 2017 laboratory test as ordered and failed to notify the physician.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 4, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “prevent misappropriation a medication for [one of fourteen] residents reviewed with controlled substance records.” The investigative team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Administering Medications that reads in part:
“Medications ordered for a particular resident may not be administered to another resident unless permitted by state law and facility policy, and approved by the Director of Nursing Services.”
The investigators interviewed the facility Administrator and asked: “if it was appropriate for the nursing staff to borrow one resident’s medication [to] give it to another resident.” The Administrator replied, “No.” However, the investigative team found numerous occasions where controlled substances were documented as being borrowed from one resident to give to another resident on occasions that were happening between January 27, 2017, and January 30, 2017.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 4, 2017, the state investigator noted the facility's failure to "conduct abuse Registry screenings for four newly hired employees.” The investigative team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse, Mistreatment, and Neglect that reads in part:
“It is the policy of the facility to respect resident’s rights to be free from abuse, mistreatment, and neglect.”
“Screening. Pre-employment includes reference checks, screening through the Nurse Aide Registry, background checks and license/registry verification.”
The investigators reviewed The Employee Abuse Registry Release Form and Drug Screen Consent Form. The document “revealed statements signed by the newly hired employees” that states, “I hereby authorize Gallatin Health Care Center to submit my name, address, Social Security number, and any other data deemed necessary to the appropriate State Registry containing information related to findings of patient abuse or misappropriation of patients’ properties.’”
As a part of the investigation, surveyors found that the facility had “failed to conduct the Abuse Registry screening” for numerous staff members including twenty-five Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), six Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), one Registered Nurse (RN), two Speech Therapists, one Physical Therapist, one Housekeeping Employee, one Activity Employee, one Business Office Employee, one Occupational Therapist, and one Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.”
Did your loved one suffer injury or harm while residing as a resident at Gallatin Health Care Center? If so, contact the Tennessee nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Sumner County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Gallatin. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. We can begin working on your case today to ensure your rights are protected.
We accept all nursing home cases involving personal injury, abuse, and wrongful death through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones making upfront payments for our legal services until after we have successfully resolved your monetary compensation claim through a negotiated settlement or jury trial award.
Our network of attorneys provides every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This promise ensures that your family will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf. We can begin working on your case today to ensure your family receives monetary recovery for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Cameron Jehl
Licensed in Tennessee
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home