The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the state of Texas conduct routine surveys, investigations, and inspections of every nursing facility statewide. The inspections help to identify serious violations, health hazards, and nursing deficiencies that could or have caused harm to residents.
In egregious cases, nursing home regulators will designate the Center as a Special Focus Facility (SFF). This designation means that the facility will be placed on the Medicare deficiency watch list that requires additional inspections and unannounced investigations to follow up on formally filed complaints. At the nursing home is unwilling or unable to make specific changes, they often suffer serious financial consequences including losing their contract to provide care and services to Medicare and Medicaid-funded patients.
Years ago, nursing home regulators designated Immanuels Healthcare Center as a Special Focus Facility and added the Home to the watch list. Likely, Immanuels will remain on the list for many more months or years until regulators are convinced that any improvements made to the level of care remain permanent. The most recent concerns over investigations, complaints, violations, and deficiencies are detailed below.
This facility is a ‘for profit’ 84-certified bed Long-Term Care Center providing cares and services to residents of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Texas. The Home is located at:
4515 Village Creek Rd
Fort Worth, TX 76119
(817) 451-8704
Nursing home regulators for the state of Texas have the legal authority to impose monetary penalties against any nursing facility identified with serious deficiencies and violations. These fines are meant to notify the facility that substandard care will no longer be tolerated.
According to publicly available information, regulators levied two fines against Immanuels Healthcare that included a $7500 fine on February 12, 2015, and a $25,935 fine and February 29, 2016. Over the last three years, regulators have received two formally filed complaints that after investigations resulted in citations.
Families have public access to the Medicare.gov website to obtain a complete list of all incident inquiries, dangerous hazards, filed complaints, health violations, safety concerns, and opened investigations in nursing homes nationwide. The regularly updated information can be used to make a well-informed decision on which long-term care facilities in the community provide the highest level of care.
Currently, Immanuels Healthcare maintains an overall three out of five stars compared to all nursing homes in the US. This ranking includes four out of five stars for health inspections, four out of five stars for staffing issues, and three out of five stars for quality measures. Some specific concerns, hazards, deficiencies, and violations involving this Center include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated February 12, 2015, a state investigator noted the facility failed “to properly notify the attending physician of x-ray results for [one resident].” The incident involved a resident falling and experiencing “swelling and pain in her right ankle. An x-ray [involving] the resident’s right ankle was done at 4:46 PM and the results were reported to the facility at 7:03 PM, revealing that the resident had a fracture to the right ankle.”
However, the nursing staff “failed to notify [the resident’s] physician of the x-ray results until 10:00 PM.” This failure “resulted in the[resident] experiencing a delay in Hospital evaluation and treatment. These failures could affect the thirty-four residents who reside on Station 2, and place them at risk for delay treatment and interventions to address pain, injuries, and other complications.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated August 31, 2016, a state investigator noted the facility failed “to provide necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being, [by following] the comprehensive assessment and Plan of Care for [a resident].” The deficient practice by the nursing staff led to a failure “to provide [a resident] with an effective pain management program to address wound care to a Stage IV pressure injury on her sacrum.”
The surveyor noted that the Assistant Director of Nursing “failed to stop the wound care treatment to [the resident’s] Stage IV pressure injury when the resident displayed signs and symptoms of pain to include grimacing, moaning, crying out, and verbalizing that she was in pain. These failures could affect the seven residents with pressure injuries [at the Home] by placing them at risk for discomfort, pain, and emotional distress.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated February 12, 2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to provide the necessary care and services to attain and maintain the highest practicable well-being for [a resident] reviewed for a change in condition.” The deficiency by the nursing staff involved a failure “to properly assess [the resident] after being notified that the resident was in pain.” The nursing staff member “did not assess the resident until approximately one hour later.”
Surveyors also noted that two of the nursing staff “failed to document an assessment and monitoring of [the resident’s] ankle after it was noted to be swollen and painful.” One member of the nursing staff failed to ensure that the resident’s “x-ray results, which revealed the resident had a fracture to the right ankle, were promptly acted upon. Three hours elapsed before [the nursing staff] notified the resident’s physician that the resident had a fracture to the right ankle.”
The failure by the nursing staff resulted in the resident “experiencing a delay in hospital evaluation and treatment.” The surveyor also noted that there “was no documentation reflecting an assessment had been conducted by [the nursing staff] on January 20, 2015, after” the nursing staff was notified that the resident “was experiencing pain and could not stand.” The surveyor reminded the facility of their 2006 policy titled: Change of Condition of the Resident Policy and Procedure that reads in part:
- Purpose of the licensed nursing staff is to “observe, record and report any condition changed to the attending physician so proper treatment will be implemented.”
- “After a resident falls, possible injuries or changes in physical or mental function can occur.
- “Assess the resident’s needs for immediate care.”
- “Do not leave the resident alone.”
- “Assess the resident and notify the attending physician of the resident’s condition.”
- “Assessment and monitoring include, but are not limited to …swelling and discoloration…”
- “Take vital signs including temperature and pain location and level.”
- “Notify a physician.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 10, 2017, a state investigator noted the facility failed “to use the services of a Registered Nurse for at least eight consecutive hours a day, seven days a week. The facility failed to have a Registered Nurse on duty for eight consecutive hours for nineteen days [over] thirteen weeks between December 3, 2016, and March 5, 2017.
Further review by the investigator “of the Punch Detail revealed eleven days did not have eight consecutive hours of Register Nurse coverage.” The investigator interviewed the facility Administrator who revealed that “she was not aware until recently the eight consecutive hours could not be done during the night shift because a new day began at midnight.” She stated [no Register Nurse was covering] on certain days between December 3, 2016, and March 5, 2017.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 10, 2017, the state surveyor noted the facility’s failure “to ensure that residents were free from any significant medication errors.” The deficient practice involved two residents “reviewed for medications.”
Surveyors documented that two nurses at the facility “failed to hold [the resident‘s medication] as ordered by the physician when the resident’s blood pressure was outside normal parameters, eight times.” It was also documented that three of the nursing staff “failed to administer [another resident’s] physicians ordered medication a total of seven times, for which parameters were ordered [by the physician] if the resident’s systolic blood pressure was less than 100 or his diastolic blood pressure was less than 60.
These failures placed the twenty-six residents who resided on Station One at risk for experiencing a change of condition that could include …dizziness, shock, and lack of consciousness.”
If you believe that your loved one was abused, mistreated or neglected while residing as a patient at Immanuels Healthcare, or any nursing home, call a personal injury attorney now. With competent legal assistance, your family can file a lawsuit to hold those at fault for causing your loved one harm both legally accountable and financially responsible.
Filing resolving a compensation claim does not require that you make any upfront payment to receive immediate legal services. The fees are paid only after your lawyers have successfully resolved your nursing home abuse case by negotiating an out of court settlement on your behalf or by winning your case at trial.
Sources:
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home