The city of Knoxville is one of the largest cities in Appalachia and the third largest city in the State of Tennessee with a population of over 185,000. Its location makes it one of the most popular gateways into the Smoky Mountains National Park and its economy is driven by a diverse balance of tourism, real estate, finance, manufacturing, retail and technology. Knoxville is also home to the University of Tennessee.
Seniors make up about 12.6% of Knoxville’s population and there are an estimated 145,000 aging residents in all of Knox County. To serve the needs of those over the age of 50, Knox County’s Senior Services department runs six senior centers which provide access to transportation, nutrition programs, social events, education and more. To learn more, visit https://knoxcounty.org/seniors/.
There are currently around 26 nursing homes serving the needs of Knoxville’s older population and while some of these facilities have a record of delivering the treatment patients deserve, others have failed by reducing staff levels to unacceptable levels, ignoring patients’ concerns and complaints or refusing to address environmental concerns such as disease prevention, hygiene and fall prevention. Patients living in an understaffed facility are also much more likely to develop pressure ulcers because caregivers are stressed, rushed and forced to prioritize which patient concerns to address first.
Our Knoxville bedsore lawyers feel the best way to evaluate nursing homes before trusting one with the treatment of a loved one is to use the Medicare nursing home compare tool. When you speak to nursing home staff, they are not going to openly discuss past fines and citations, but this tool rates every center and even posts their penalty history. For example, the Golden Living Center of Windwood is part of the Golden Living nursing chain— which is notorious for providing negligent care.
Using the nursing compare tool reveals that the facility has been subject to federal fines in excess of $142,000 and the most recent fines were assessed over the last year. Feel free to access the tool at https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html.
While it is reasonable to assume immobilized patients will be at an elevated risk of developing pressure ulcers, it is easy to prevent, detect and treat these sores if caregivers are providing the basic level of care and supervision patients should be receiving. Stage I sores can develop in hours when a patient is left in the same position, but advancement beyond Stages I and II require a significant level of neglect.
As pressure ulcers continue to fester, they become open sores which can become infected. Prolonged tissue death can affect muscles and make it necessary for doctors to remove much of the skin and muscle before it is even possible to treat the infection or promote healing.
It is obvious that bedsores should be noticeable to any trained caregiver, which is why they are almost always an indicator of neglect or abuse.
You are right to be outraged when a loved one is forced to suffer simply because the nursing facility tasked with his or her care deliberately enacted policies that prioritized profit over patient wellbeing. Nursing Home Law Center LLC has helped thousands of families prosecute nursing abuse claims and our Knoxville bedsore injury attorneys are ready and able to help you do the same. Contact us today to arrange a free case review where you can learn more about your rights and legal options.
Should you have questions about Tennessee law related to pressure sores, view our page here.
If you are looking for an attorney to assist with the investigation or prosecution of a nursing home abuse case involving bed sores or other injury visit the pages below:
Attorney Cameron Jehl
Licensed in Tennessee
Knoxville Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home