Locating the ideal nursing facility in your local community can be a challenging problem for the entire family when a loved one needs the highest level of services and care in a safe, compassionate environment. Unfortunately, mistreatment is still a serious problem in many caregiving facilities across America. Often, the family remains unaware that the loved one is being neglected or abused until a dangerous problem arises.
If your loved one was mistreated while residing in a Bullitt County nursing facility, contact the Kentucky Nursing Home Law Center attorneys now for immediate legal intervention. Allow our team of lawyers to work on your behalf to ensure your family receives adequate monetary recovery for your damages. We will use the law to hold those responsible for causing the harm legally accountable.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a "for profit" 122-certified bed long term care center providing cares and services to residents of Mount Washington and Bullitt County, Kentucky. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating home is located at:
310 Boxwood Run Road
Mount Washington, Kentucky, 40047
(502) 955-7600
Green Meadows Health Care Center 1
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Green Meadows Health Care Center 1 offers other services and amenities that include:
The federal government surveyors have a legal duty to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare when investigators identify violations of established nursing home regulations. In serious cases, the nursing facility will receive heavy monetary penalties if investigators find the violations are severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Within the last three years, regulators imposed a monetary fine of $34,145 against Green Meadows Health Care Center 1 on March 16, 2017, citing substandard care. Also, the facility received one formally filed complaint and self-reported to serious issues that all resulted in citations. Additional information about fines and penalties can be found on the Kentucky Department of Health Care Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Our attorneys review data on every long-term and intermediate care facility in Kentucky. Families can obtain the same publically-available information by visiting numerous state and federal government databases including the KY Department of Public Health website and Medicare.gov.
According to Medicare, the 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 Bullitt County neglect attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Green Meadows Health Care Center 1 that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 26, 2018, the state investigative team documented the facility’s failure “to protect two of nineteen sampled residents from physical abuse by [another resident].” The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse Prohibition dated March 13, 2017, that reads in part:
“The facility will monitor residents and identify potential signs and symptoms of abuse.” Additionally, “the facility will monitor occurrences, patterns, and trends that constitute abuse.”
“The facility will protect residents from alleged offender by providing a safe, protected environment during the investigation. The alleged perpetrator will be immediately removed to ensure resident protection.”
The surveyors interviewed a resident during a group interview on the morning of April 25, 2018. The resident revealed that “earlier in the day he/she was in the North Unit TV Area when [another resident] started beating him/her on the back with his/her fist.” The assaulting resident stated that “it hurt and his/her back continues to feel sore.” The assaulted resident stated that they “reported the incident to the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) after it occurred.”
Continued observations and interviews with the resident that occurred the next morning revealed that “the resident was in bed and continued to complain of pain in the upper back area.” At that time, the resident “put on the call light [when an LPN] entered the room, and [the resident] requested pain medication for the back pain.”
The surveyors reviewed the resident’s clinical record, Quarterly MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment and Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) that determined that the resident “was interview-able.
A review of the assaulting resident’s quarterly MDS (Minimum Data Set) revealed that the facility did not conduct a Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) scoring test on the resident because that resident was “rarely/never understood and his/her cognitive skills for daily decision-making were severely impaired. The facility assessed [the assaulting resident] did not display physical behaviors symptoms toward others.”
A review of the assaulting resident’s Nursing Note dated March 11, 2018, revealed that the assaulting resident “exhibited behaviors of hitting, kicking, spitting, and swinging at staff.” That resident’s Care Plan dated three days earlier revealed that “the resident continued to be combative with staff with an intervention for staff to offer to [deviating] activities as needed.”
The survey team interviewed a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who stated that the assaulting resident “did not do well in crowds, a lot of activity angered him/her, and he/she might swing at someone. The CNA stated that while providing care for [the assaulting resident] earlier in the day, he/she swung at her and tried to hit her and another CNA working with her.”
The reporting CNA stated that “the resident tried to hit CNAs daily, and struck [another CNA] in the stomach about two weeks prior. She stated she reported the incident to a male nurse is who was no longer working at the facility. According to the CNA, she reported the incident immediately to the nurse when the resident hit her, but nothing was done about it.”
The surveyors then interviewed a Restorative Aide who revealed that the assaulting resident “was strong and did not talk much. The Aide stated that on April 25, 2018, at about 7:15 AM, she was getting ready to walk [the resident who was assaulted] and the resident stated that [the assaulting resident] hit him/her on the back earlier in the morning. The Aide stated she immediately reported [the assaulted resident’s] report to the Director of Nursing and requested to speak to the resident. She stated that the Director of Nursing discussed the incident with [the assaulted resident].”
The surveyors interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) who said that “she had not personally witnessed [the assaulting resident] hit another resident. However, she had seen him/her roll in a wheelchair up and down the halls and go into other residents’ rooms. She stated earlier in the day (on April 25, 2018), [the resident who was assaulted told her that the assaulting resident] hit him/her on the back. However, she did not put interventions in place to protect the resident from further harm.”
The survey team interviewed the Director of Nursing on the afternoon of April 26, 2018, who revealed that “she became aware about 7:15 AM [the day before that the assaulting resident hit the other resident]; however, she did not identify the incident as resident-to-resident physical abuse. In addition, she did not put actions in place to monitor [the assaulting resident] for additional resident-to-resident altercations.”
The facility Administrator stated during an interview that the resident who was assaulted “reported to the Director of Nursing that [the assaulting resident] hit him/her in the back. However, the facility did not identify the incident as physical abuse. The Administrator stated after the report that staff should have put measures in place to protect residents from potential resident-to-resident abuse perpetrated [by the assaulting resident].”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 26, 2018, the state investigators noted that the nursing home “failed to implement its policy to report allegations of physical abuse for two of nineteen sampled residents.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse Prohibition dated March 13, 2017, that reads in part:
“The facility will monitor occurrences, patterns, and trends that constitute abuse. The facility will report all injuries of unknown source, and all allegations of abuse immediately, but no later than two hours after the allegation was made to the State Survey Agency and Adult Protective Services [according to] State law through established procedures.”
In a summary statement of deficiency dated March 16, 2017, the state investigative team noted that the nursing home “failed to implement their abuse policy for an allegation of verbal abuse for one of twenty-one residents.” The facility “did not identify other residents potentially affected by the abuse allegation per their policy.”
The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse dated March 13, 2017, that reads in part:
“The facility will promptly and thoroughly investigate reports of abuse. The investigation includes interviews with residents involved, statements from staff and witnesses of the events, and patient assessment.”
“To protect residents from alleged offenders, the facility ensures the safety and well-being of residents with the potential to be affected.” The facility does this “by assessing and interviewing other residents potentially affected immediately after the investigation to determine an injury and to identify of their or any immediate clinical interventions necessary.”
The survey team reviewed a resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment and Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) that determines that the “resident was interview-able. The facility also assesses the resident needed extensive one-person physical assist to transfer in and out of bed, to walk and his/her room, and for toilet use.”
A review of the resident’s Care Plan dated February 15, 2017 revealed that “the facility encourages the resident to remain as independent as possible while at the facility. The Care Plan also stated facility staff reminded the resident not to ambulate or transfer without assistance [to] prevent falls.”
A review of the facility’s Abuse Allegation Investigation dated February 27, 2017, revealed that one resident “made an allegation of abuse on February 27, 2017. The resident stated a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) on the third shift was mean to him/her. The resident stated the CNA told him/her that he/she needed to help himself/herself to the resident could go home.”
The documentation shows that the facility “interviewed two residents. Neither of the two residents interviewed was assigned to [that CNA on that date] when the allegation occurred. The facility collected statements from [the second CNA] whom the resident reported the allegation to [the allegedly verbally abusive CNA] whom the allegation was against. The facility also collected interviews from a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and a Registered Nurse (RN). Both nurses worked with [the allegedly abusive CNA on that day].” However, “neither witnessed the interaction between the CNA and the resident nor did they receive a report that the resident wanted to talk to a nurse.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Administrator on March 16, 2017, who revealed that “he designated the Social Services Director as the facility’s Abuse Coordinator. However, he stated he oversaw the Social Services Director in the investigation into the allegation of abuse by [the reporting resident].”
The Administrator also said that “he was ultimately responsible for each investigation into the allegation of abuse. He stated he had instructed the Social Services Director to interview several facility residents and ask if any staff event inappropriate, mean, or if they had any issues with any staff member. However, she did not interview enough residents to determine if others had been affected by the abuse allegation.”
The Administrator stated that “the facility did not complete a thorough investigation and turnover every stone to ensure the allegation of abuse was unsubstantiated.”
Do you suspect that your loved one was the victim of mistreatment, abuse or neglect while living as a resident at Green Meadows Health Care Center 1? If so, contact the Kentucky nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Bullitt County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Mount Washington. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our knowledgeable attorneys have years of experience in handling cases that involve nursing home abuse occurring in private and public nursing facilities. We accept every case involving nursing home neglect, wrongful death, or personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the need to make a payment to pay for legal services until after your case is successfully resolved through a jury trial award or negotiated out of court settlement.
We provide each client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you owe us nothing if we cannot obtain compensation for your damages. Let us begin working on your case today to ensure your family is adequately compensated for the damages that caused your harm.
Sources:
Attorney Carey Acerra
Licensed in Kentucky
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home