Many families have no other option than to entrust the care of a loved one to the medical staff at a nursing home to ensure that they receive the best care in a compassionate, safe environment. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are understaffed or operated by nurses with inadequate training.If your loved one was injured while residing in a Kent County nursing facility, contact the Michigan Nursing Home Law Center attorneys now for immediate legal assistance. We use the law to hold those responsible for causing harm both legally and financially accountable. Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today and ensure your family receives financial compensation to recover your damages.
This nursing home is a Medicare and Medicaid-participating "for profit" center providing cares and services to residents of Lowell and Kent County, Michigan. The 153-certified bed nursing facility is located at:
350 N Center St
Lowell, Michigan 49331
(616) 897-8473
Laurels of Kent Nursing Center
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, The Laurels of Kent Nursing and Rehab Center offers long-term care, short-term rehab, outpatient therapies, respite care, hospice, and palliative care.
Michigan and Federal investigators have the legal authority to penalize any nursing home with a denied payment for Medicare services or a monetary fine when the facility is cited for serious violations of established regulations and rules the guarantee resident safety.
Over the last thirty-six months, investigators imposed four massive monetary penalties against Laurels of Kent Nursing Center, citing substandard care. These penalties include an $80,976 fine on May 25, 2018, a $52,100 fine on October 11, 2017, a $21,493 fine on October 20, 2016, and a $5,022 fine on June 8, 2016, for a total of $159,591. During this time, Medicare denied payment for services rendered on October 11, 2017.
The nursing home also received eighteen formally filed complaints and self-reported twenty-seven serious issues that all resulted in citations. Additional information concerning penalties and fines can be reviewed on the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Nursing Home Reporting Website.
The state of Michigan and the federal government regularly updates their long-term care home database system with complete details of all deficiencies, citations, and violations.
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 two out of five stars for quality measures.
According to investigators, the “facility failed to justify the use of antipsychotic medication for [one resident] reviewed for antipsychotic medications.” The deficient practice resulted “in the potential for adverse reactions.”
The survey team reviewed the severely cognitively impaired resident’s documentation that showed “she had trouble falling asleep and had no behaviors.” The resident’s Behavior Consult reflected that the resident had a history of “paranoia including the fear that staff would give her harmful foodstuffs; the patient was angry with staff and peers and suspicious.”
Documentation shows that there was a failed gradual dose reduction on the resident’s medication “with an increase in paranoia and irritability.” The survey team asked the Social Worker on the morning of June 29, 2017 “for evidence of a failed dose reduction for [the resident’s antipsychotic medication].”
The Social Worker showed the surveyor the same document that revealed the resident refused care on February 14, 2017, and April 21, 2017.” The surveyors told the Social Worker that refusing care “was not a reason to continue a resident on [antipsychotic medication].”
Although there was a single incident of paranoia documented in the medical records on May 6, 2017, the resident never received a psychiatric diagnosis to determine if the antipsychotic medication should still be used.
The nursing home “failed to develop an abuse policy that included training contracted employees, in which to [contract employees] had not received abuse training, resulting in the potential for unidentified abuse to go unreported.”
The surveyors stated that “the facility’s beautician had not had abuse training on the facility’s abuse policies and procedures since 2014. The facility’s registered dietitian, which had no date of hire, reflected she had never received abuse training on the facility’s abuse policies and procedures.”
Was your loved one mistreated while residing at Laurels of Kent Nursing Center? Contact the Michigan nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. We represent Kent victims of abuse and neglect in all areas including Lowell.
It is always free to discuss your case with our legal team. We provide a 100% “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing until we can secure financial recovery on your behalf. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Sources:
Attorney Robert Lantzy
Licensed in Michigan
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home