Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Hanahan

Needing to place a loved one in a nursing facility can be an overwhelming experience for any family member who must find a location that provides the highest level of nursing care and hygiene assistance. In many cases, we feel powerless when we are no longer able to provide care ourselves. The need for more nursing home beds is likely to rise in the years ahead as of elderly population continues to increase. The South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers understand how devastating it is to discover that your loved one was victimized in a nursing home due to neglect or mistreatment. If your loved one has been mistreated at Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Hanahan, contact our South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys. Our team of lawyers remains committed to assisting families dealing with elder abuse and negligence.

Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Hanahan

This Nursing Center is a 'for profit' facility providing services and cares to residents of Hanahan and Berkeley County, South Carolina. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating 135-certified-bed Nursing Home is located at:

1800 Eagle Landing Blvd
Hanahan, SC 29410
(843) 553-0656

In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, the facility also offers to determine short-term rehabilitation along with long-term residential care, dementia care, independent living in assisted-living options.

Financial Penalties and Violations

The state of South Carolina and the federal government have the legal obligation to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if the facility has violated established nursing home regulations and rules. In serious cases, the nursing facility will receive multiple penalties if investigators find the violations are severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident. Over the last three years, investigators have fined this facility twice including a $20,106 fine on January 20, 2017 and a $6826 fine on August 24, 2017. Additional information about penalties and fines can be found on the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control website concerning Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Harahan.

Hanahan South Carolina Nursing Home Patient Safety Concerns

Detailed information on each nursing facility in America can be obtained on state and federal database sites including Medicare.gov. These government-run regulatory agencies routinely update their list of dangerous hazards, health violations, safety concerns, incident inquiries, opened investigations, and filed complaints on nursing homes nationwide. Many families use this information to choose the best location to place a loved one who requires the highest level of nursing care.

Currently, this nursing home maintains an overall one out of five available star rating in the Medicare star rating comparative analysis system. This rating system includes one of five stars for health inspection problems, three of five stars for staffing issues and three of five stars for quality measures. The Berkeley County nursing home neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found many health violations, safety concerns and deficiencies at this nursing home including:

• Failure of Hiring Personnel without Findings of Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation or Theft

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility "failed to ensure that 152 agency staff on the facility's current roster had current licenses/certifications." The investigator noted that "50 of the 52 did not have a required state criminal record check [and that] 28 of the 52 had no documentation of orientation to the facility prior to the start date."

  As a follow-up, the state investigators interviewed the Administrator, and human resources that verified the above information was correct. "No further information was provided." A review of two staff contracts showed that the "facility had a policy in place [but] that one did not specify responsibility for credentialing and background checks prior to the start date."

• Failure to Protect Every Resident from All Forms of Abuse Including Physical, Mental and Emotional Abuse, Sexual Assault, Physical Punishment and Neglect by Anybody

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state surveyor documented the facility's failure to ensure the two residents "remain free of physical abuse (rough handling)." In one incident, the resident "reported abuse by agency personnel to a staff nurse who was not reported to the Administrator or State Agency and therefore not investigated." Another resident "reported rough handling by a staff member which was not fully investigated by the facility or reported to the State Agency." The investigator reviewed the facility's Policy Titled: Abuse, Neglect, and Misappropriation of Patient Property Prevention dated April 21, 2006, that reads in part:

  "The Center must ensure that all alleged violations involving mistreatment or abuse are reported immediately to the Administrator of the center and other officials in accordance with state law."
• Failure to Develop, Implement and Enforce Policies and Procedures That Prevent Abuse, Neglect, and Theft

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigators noted that the facility had "failed to implement written policies and procedures related to reporting allegations of abuse." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident "reviewed for abuse." In that case, the resident "reported an incident of rough handling to the nurse which was not documented or reported to the Administrator."

• Failure to Ensure That the Nursing Home Remains Free from Accident Hazards and Provide Adequate Supervision to Ensure Residents Avoid Accidents

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility had "failed to ensure freedom from accidents for [a resident] reviewed for accidents.", The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved a resident who "was left in the shower during without supervision for five minutes."

  A state investigator identified the deficiency during a random observation made on April 14, 2018 when a resident "was seen dressed, lying in a shower in the shower room, alone and unattended for five minutes by a Certified Nursing Assistant who left the resident to go and get a lift to transfer [them]." It was noted that the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) "did not return for five minutes. No staff was observed around the shower room or at the nearest nursing station during the five minutes."

  The surveyor interviewed the Licensed Practical Nurse providing the resident care who stated "the CNA should not have left him alone. Someone should have stayed in the shower room. The CNA could have used the call light to get some assistance."

• Failure to Ensure That Every Resident Is Free from the Use of Physical Restraints Unless Need for Medical Treatment

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility's failure "to identify the use of a concave (scoop) mattress as a potential restraint and conduct an assessment for its use based on medical symptoms." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved a resident "with a restraint."

  The state investigators observed the resident "throughout the days of the survey." Their observations "revealed that the resident had a concave/scoop mattress on [their] bed." The investigators reviewed the resident's January 17, 2018, Annual Minimum Data Set Assessment that revealed that "the resident required extensive assistance with all Activities of Daily Living including bed mobility and transfers, and range of motion was impaired to both upper and lower extremities. No restraints were coded as being in use." The surveyors interviewed the Senior Administrator near dinner time on April 11, 2018, asking about the restraint assessment. The Senior Administrator responded "you will not find a restraint assessment for the scoop mattress. Our company does not consider this as a restraint. It is part of our fall prevention program and is listed as a possible intervention."

  The surveyors interviewed the facility Director of Nurses the following day and asked, "why the scoop mattress had been ordered." The Director replied that "it looks like it was originally ordered from a fall." However, the Licensed Practical Nurse that provides resident care was interviewed on April 13, 2018, had stated that the resident "moves a whole lot in the bed. We use it [the scoop mattress] to try to keep [them] in the bed."

• Failure to Immediately Notify the Resident, the Resident's Doctor or Family Member of a Change in the Resident's Condition Including a Decline in Their Health or Injury

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility's failure "to provide written notification of a room change of [a resident] and receiving a roommate. Furthermore, the facility failed to notify the families of [three other residents] change in condition and new [medication orders]." The state investigator documented that "there was no evidence located in the medical record that the resident representative/family was notified of any of the above changes."

  The state investigator interviewed a Registered Nurse providing the resident care who stated to the resident "Representative/family notification should be documented in the Nurse's Notes." However, a review of the nurse's notes dated on April 10, 2018, at 2:53 PM revealed "no evidence of family/representative notification." The investigator interviewed the Director of Nursing the following day who "confirmed that the family/representative had not been notified based on documentation present."

• Failure to Honor the Resident's Right to a Safe, Clean and Comfortable and Homelike Environment

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state surveyor documented that the facility had "failed to maintain a sanitary-like environment for [three nursing units]. Furthermore, the facility failed to create a clean and homelike environment for [one resident]." The surveyor conducted an environmental tour around the nursing home with the Maintenance Director and the facility Administrator on the afternoon of April 14, 2018, and previous tours occurring on April 9, 2018, April 10, 2018. The surveyor found countertops peeling away, brown splatter on the restroom light switch, HVAC units in disrepair, and dry splatter on the footboards. Additionally, the surveyor noted that one resident "had no personal items in [their] room and there were brown spots/fingerprints over the hall wall next to the bed."

  Also, the investigator said that based on the observation that a resident's "wheelchair frame had heavy dust build up and dried spills on the sides. This [observation] was verified by the Activities Assistant who stated [that they] would get someone to clean it." During one survey tour, it was noted that the resident's bed "was made up only was sheets, no blanket or bedspread."

• Failure to Provide Sufficient Staff Members to Ensure That Every Resident's Needs Are Met Every Day and Have a Licensed Nurse in Charge on Each Shift

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, a state investigator noted that Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center failed to "provide sufficient nursing staff coverage on 30 of 51 days reviewed." The surveyors had arrived at the facility to investigate a complaint filed to the State agency "by a concerned family member… indicating the resident had been left for an hour or more in soiled clothes and was not receiving proper care." A review of the resident's records dated April 13, 2018, at 2:47 PM "revealed documentation of the resident's toileting attempts or checks revealed incontinent time frames, potentially leaving the resident in soiled clothing, for extended periods of time."

  The state investigator interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse providing the resident care who indicated that "there had been times in the past, where the facility was short-staffed, resulting in a delay of care." The LPN "could not recall any incidents related to [that resident]."

• Failure to Provide and Implement an Infection and Prevention and Control Program

  In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 14, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility's failure "to follow procedures to ensure precautions were observed for blood glucose monitoring." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident "observed for finger stick blood sugar monitoring. Gloves were not worn during blood glucose monitoring on the 500 unit. Also, the facility had not completed its testing for Legionella, the highly contagious bacterium (Legionnaires' disease) that can be transferred through HVAC units.

• In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated January 20, 2017, the state investigator documented the facility's failure "to ensure hand hygiene was consistently provided for [one resident] who was observed for wound care." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved a resident with an "unstageable pressure ulcer which measured 2.0 cm x 2.7 cm x .2 cm." Observations of the nurse identified that the LPN "did not perform hand hygiene after removing her gloves. Then she pushed the cart to the soiled utility room, discarded the trash and washed her hands." During an interview, the LPN confirmed that "she did not perform hand hygiene or change her gloves during the [resident's] treatment."

• Failure to Provide a Resident Safe, Appropriate Pain Management When Necessary

  In summary statement of deficiency dated April 14, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility's failure "to ensure that pain management was provided to [two residents] resulting in unrelieved complaints of pain for [the two residents] reviewed for pain management."

Mistreated at Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Hanahan? We Can Help

Our attorneys provide legal advice, counsel, and representation to individuals who have been neglected, mistreated and abused at South Carolina long-term care homes like Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center - Hanahan. If your loved one was injured or died unexpectedly from neglect while residing at a nursing home in South Carolina, your family must protect their rights for justice. We encourage you to contact the Hanahan nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. Schedule a free case review and let us discuss your legal options for obtaining a monetary recovery to ensure you are compensated for your damages.

Our legal team accepts all personal injury cases, wrongful death lawsuits, and nursing home abuse claims for compensation through contingency fee agreements. This arrangement postpones payment of our legal services until after we have successfully resolved your case through a jury trial award or negotiated settlement. If we are unable to secure compensation on your behalf, you owe us nothing.