Many families throughout Tennessee have no other option than to place their loved one in a nursing home to ensure they receive hygiene assistance and help with their medical care. However, when the nursing home fails to provide adequate supervision and the highest level of care, the resident is often harmed through resident-to-resident assault or caregiver negligence.
Any nursing home that fails to follow the established rules and regulations that result in preventable harm or an avoidable death should be held financially responsible and legally accountable for damages. The Tennessee Nursing Home Law Center attorneys represented many nursing home residents in Shelby County and can help your family too. Let us begin working on your case now to ensure you receive adequate financial compensation before the state statute of limitations expires concerning your claim.
This long-term care (LTC) home is a "for profit" 180-certified bed center providing cares and services to residents of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating facility is located at:
141 N Mclean Blvd
Memphis, Tennessee, 38104
(901) 276-2021
Both the federal government and the state of Tennessee can impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare of any nursing facility that has been found to have violated established nursing home rules and regulations. Within the last three years, Midtown Center for Health and Rehabilitation Center was fined twice by state and federal investigators including on October 13, 2016, for $32,869 and on October 27, 2015, for $29,153 that totaled more than $62,000 due to substandard care.
Also, Medicare denied payment for services rendered on October 13, 2016, and the nursing home received seven formally filed complaints and self-reported three serious issues that resulted in citations within the last thirty-six months. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Tennessee Department of Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Families can review publically available data on every long-term and intermediate care facility in Tennessee by visiting numerous state and federal government databases including Medicare.gov and the TN Department of Public Health website. This data is a valuable tool to use when choosing the best location to place a loved one who needs the highest level of services and care in a safe environment.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, two out of five stars for staffing issues and two out of five stars for quality measures. The Shelby County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Midtown Center for Health and Rehabilitation Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 7, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “ensure a significant change in status assessment was completed related to the hospice services on one of thirty-three residents reviewed.” The investigative team reviewed the MDS 3.0 RAI Manual that on page 46 documents that “a significant change in status assessment is required to be performed when a terminally ill resident enrolls in a hospice program.”
The investigative team reviewed the resident’s medical records showing that the terminally ill resident had physician’s orders and documentation. These records showed “no significant Change MDS Assessment was completed when [a resident] was admitted to hospice services.” The investigators interviewed the MDS coordinator who confirmed that a significant change assessment should have been completed when the resident was admitted to hospice.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 7, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “ensure if fall intervention measures were in place for one of three sample residents reviewed for falls.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Falls that reads in part:
“It is the intent of this facility to provide residents with assistance and supervision in an effort to minimize the risk of falls and fall-related injury.”
The investigators reviewed the resident’s Medical Records and Care Plan dated April 18, 2017, that revealed the resident was at “risk for fall.” By July 9, 2017, the resident’s Medical Records showed “mats at the bedside.” However, a review of the Nursing Assessment for the resident revealed: “falls with no injury on July 9, 2017, August 31, 2017, September 4, 2017, September 26, 2017, October 13, 2017, and November 11, 2017.”
The survey team reviewed the Nursing Assessment for the resident dated September 4, 2017, that revealed fall-specific information stating that the resident “slid out of bed lying on her right side next to the air conditioning unit.” The nursing assessment dated September 26, 2017, revealed that the patient was “on the floor in a sitting position with back against the bed” on the patient’s “right side of the bed.”
A third Nursing Assessment dated October 13, 2017, revealed that the resident was noted to “be on the floor beside the bed on the mat” on the “left side of the bed on the mat, lying on their right side.” Observations of the resident’s room on December 4, 2017 revealed the resident “lying in bed on her right side, eyes close, without mats on the floor at the bedside.”
The investigators interviewed the Unit Manager at the 300 Hall nurse’s station who confirmed that the resident should have had fall interventions with mats at the bedside in place when the resident was in bed.”
The Unit Manager also confirmed that “no mats were in the room or bathroom to be placed at the bedside.” Additional observations of the resident’s room on December 6, 2017, revealed the resident “in bed with the mat on the floor on the resident’s left side of the bed, another mat was in the room, stored between the wall and the side of the closet.”
The investigators then asked the Unit Manager “which side of the bed the mats in the resident’s room should be placed on?” The Unit Manager replied, “we put it on the side where she actually gets out of bed, where she fell.” However, the Unit Manager “confirmed that the resident should [also] have a fall mat on the right side of the bed.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 13, 2016, the state surveyors documented that the facility had failed to “initiate a significant Change MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment within fourteen days of a significant change in the physical condition involving one of thirty-one sample residents.” The investigators reviewed the Long-Term Care Facility Resident Assessment Instrument 3.0 that reads in part:
“The significant change in status assessment is a comprehensive assessment for a resident that must be completed when the interdisciplinary team has determined that a resident meets the significant change guidelines for either improvement or decline.”
The investigators reviewed the Admission MDS for a resident and their weight report that documented the resident’s “weight was 116 pounds on a December 20, 2016, 117.2 pounds on April 20, 2016, and 105 pounds on August 31, 2016, indicating a 10.4% weight loss.” A review of the interdisciplinary note dated August 31, 2016, documented “at risk meeting: resident weight was discussed by the interdisciplinary team. She has a weight loss of 10.4%.”
The resident’s Progress Notes Report revealed an event dated August 23, 2016, that shows a “skin assessment done [with] noted fluid-filled blister at the left buttock.” The Care Plan dated August 25, 2016 documents new orders for treatment to the sacral wound that includes providing supplemental proteins [and] amino acids to promote wound healing. Follow-up treatment orders dated September 7, 2016, shows that the resident had a pressure ulcer with ordered wound treatment to the sacral area.
The investigators interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and asked about the resident’s condition and changes “from no impairment to severe impairment in the first thirty days.” The LPN confirmed, “that the MDS (Minimum Data Set) was accurate.” The investigators then interviewed the Director of Nursing and asked: “whether a significant change [assessment] should have been done related to the change in condition, weight loss, and pressure ulcer development.” The Director replied, “well, that is three triggers, so yes, probably.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 13, 2016, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “timely identify, accurately assess or treat pressure ulcers for two of seven sampled residents with pressure ulcers. The facility’s failure to timely identify, accurately assess or treat pressure ulcers resulted in actual harm to [two residents] when the pressure ulcers deteriorated.”
During an interview with the facility Director of Nursing, it was noted that the nursing home “was unable to provide documentation that the resident’s wound care was performed as ordered.” As a result, “the wound became larger in size and developed undermining, resulting in actual harm to [a resident].”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 13, 2016, the state survey team documented that the nursing home had failed to “ensure that behaviors and side effects were monitored for one of five residents reviewed for unnecessary medications.” The incident involved a resident admitted to the facility who had no cognitive impairment, “no behaviors, and required staff assistance for all activities of daily living in receiving antidepressant medications for seven days.”
The resident’s Care Plan dated October 3, 2016, noted that the resident is “at risk for or experiencing depression [and] taking medications as prescribed” at “25 mg every day.” Other documentation tells the staff to “monitor behavior as per the tracking tool.”
The investigators interviewed the facility Social Services Director and asked: “how residents are to monitor for behaviors related to depression.” The Social Services Director replied, “The nurses let us know. They are supposed to check that on the Nurse’s Notes.”
The investigative team interviewed the Registered Nurse (RN) providing the resident care and asked “how the resident was monitored for behaviors.” The RN responded that “there was no documentation for behavior monitoring in this record. The nurse failed to check the box (in the electronic record system) for side effects monitoring.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 13, 2016, a state surveyor noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure safe and sanitary disposal practices to prevent the potential spread of infection in three laundry room chutes, the fourth-floor biohazard room, and laundry room.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Departmental (environmental services)-Laundry and Linen that reads in part:
“Separate solid and clean linen at all times. Place any linen saturated with blood or body fluids into a leak-resistant bag before placing it into a hamper. Keep soiled and clean linen, and the respective hampers and laundry carts, separated at all times.”
The surveyors observed the laundry room chutes on October 10, 2016, that revealed “to red biohazard bag’s mixed in with regular bags. In the laundry room, there was a red biohazard bag mixed in with the regular barrel and [that] was full of linen.”
The state surveyors interviewed the Housekeeping Director in the laundry room and asked: “if it was acceptable to have the red bags and regular bags mixed together in the laundry chute.” The Director responded, “No.”
During an interview with a Registered Nurse (RN), it was revealed that “linen is placed in a … bag in place in the red bags in the room, and trash is placed in a red bag in the room in a separate container for the linen and housekeeping removes the items from the room” when linen and trash are handled. The Housekeeping Director agreed that “the biohazard bags dropped in the chute could become ripped or damaged at any time.”
If your loved one was victimized while a resident at Midtown Center for Health and Rehabilitation Center, call the Tennessee nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Shelby County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Memphis.
Our knowledgeable attorneys can offer legal assistance on your behalf to ensure your case for financial compensation is successfully resolved against every party that caused your loved one harm. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. We can begin working on your case now to ensure your rights are protected.
We accept every case involving nursing home abuse, wrongful death or personal injury through a contingency fee arrangement. This agreement will postpone payment of our legal services until after our lawyers have resolved your case through a negotiated settlement or jury trial award. We can start on your case today to ensure you receive compensation for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Cameron Jehl
Licensed in Tennessee
Tennessee Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home