It has been an ongoing debate in the professional care community – nursing homes cutting back on staff members and supplies in order to reduce their expenses. Why are they cutting back on expenses you may wonder? In order for these nursing homes to become more profitable. However, an Albany man is filing a lawsuit against a Hickory Creek Nursing Center that alleges seriously faulty care of its residents because of the chronic shortages of staff and supplies.

More information about this lawsuit

The lawsuit is filed on behalf of John Primmer, 66 years old. The defendants in this case are Healthcare Industries Corporation and related companies, the nursing home administrator Dave Miller, Hickory Creek of Athens, Inc., Hickory Creek Nursing Center, and several other parties that are related to the nursing home. The suit alleges that these parties were all aware of the ‘systemic staffing problems’ that affected the patient’s quality of care and caused harm.

The suit alleges that Primmer suffered mental anguish, extreme pain, suffering, and catastrophic injuries. The lawyers representing Primmer argue that both his physical condition and health deteriorated far beyond what is expected in the normal aging process. According to the complaint, this included falls, pressure sores, poor hygiene, and weight loss.

There have been complaints before

Despite the fact that there are no fines or citations leveled against the Hickory Creek Nursing Center from federal regulatory agencies, the Medicare website does provide some interesting information. According to the ratings posted on the site, the facility scores ‘much below average’. According to the Medicare website, the residents at the facility received less than the national average of 45 minutes of direct care from professional nurses daily.

In fact, the facility did not even come close, with 34 minutes for each patient every day. The other statewide facilities provided 2 hours and 18 minutes of direct care from certified nursing assistants, compare that to the 1 hour and 40 minutes that residents receive at the Hickory Creek Nursing Center.

Why these cases matter

According to the lawsuit, these problems stem from the fact that the home did not hire enough certified nursing assistants, LPNs, and registered nurses. According to the lawsuit, many staff members quit working or missed work because conditions at the home were “deplorable” or they were overwhelmed by the work that needed to be done without the assistance of enough coworkers.

Many long-term care facilities across the country are suffering from issues directly related to a lack of staffing. These residents and their family members depend on the care from these staff members and can suffer greatly if the facility fails to provide adequate care to meet the needs of these patients. These types of lawsuits are not about making money or even ‘merely’ about compensation. They are about forcing these companies to make a change. Force them to either accept fewer residents or hire more staff members in order to look after each resident properly. Unfortunately, oftentimes the only way to ensure lasting change is to take these types of corporations to court.