To ensure the elderly, disabled, and rehabilitating residents remain safe, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and state agencies routinely survey and inspect every nursing home in Kansas. When substandard care is identified through acknowledged regulatory violations that jeopardize the health and well-being of one or more residents, the agencies require that the facility take immediate action to correct the problems.
Even so, some nursing homes have underlying issues so problematic that the facility continually creates new issues that also need to be corrected. Only a small percentage of nursing homes fall into a distinct category designated by the CMS as a Special Focus Facility. This undesirable designation alerts the facility’s Administration, management, and nursing staff that they have reached the end of providing inappropriate care, and if immediate changes are not made and maintained, the government agency may cancel the contract with the nursing facility to provide care to Medicare/Medicaid patients or close the Home.
In recent months, Prescott Country View Nursing Home was designated a Special Focus Facility (SFF) and provided the opportunity to make much-needed corrections to ensure resident safety. Before the facility can be removed from the designated list, state surveyors and investigators will perform numerous inspections of the facility (both scheduled and unannounced) to identify ongoing problems and whether the corrections made by the nursing team have been maintained. The most current nursing home safety concerns involving this facility are listed below.
This not-for-profit 45-certified bed Medicaid/Medicare-participating nursing facility provides cares and services to residents of Prescott and Linn County, Kansas. The Home is located at:
301 E. Miller St.
Prescott, KS 66767
(913) 471-4315
In addition to providing skilled nursing care and long-term care, the nursing facility also provides hospice care, respite care, and adult day care.
The CMS and Kansas state nursing home regulatory agencies routinely update the Medicare.gov website with current information on the level of care every facility provides in the United States. Currently, Prescott Country View Nursing Home maintains an overall two out of five stars ranking compared to other nursing facilities, rehabilitation centers and assisted living homes nationwide.
This ranking includes one out of five stars for health inspections, four out of five stars for staffing and four out of five stars for quality measures. Major concerns came to light in recent surveys and inspections conducted by state investigators and surveyors that include:
Failure to Provide Every Resident an Environment Free of Abuse, Physical Punishment, and Being Separated from Others
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 18, 2017, the state investigator noted that the facility had failed to “ensure an environment free of abuse when a direct care [staff member] spoke inappropriately and roughly repositioned [one resident at the facility]. It was noted that the “deficient practice placed [the injured resident] in Immediate Jeopardy.”
The findings by the surveyors were first identified during an interview conducted with the resident who stated that “4 to 5 months ago he/she overheard a direct care staff member use verbally offensive language toward [the resident] and felt the tone of the voice and language was abusive.” During the interview, the resident stated that they “did not report this to nursing or administrative staff. The resident stated the facility terminated [the] direct care staff members shortly after this event.”
Failure to Hire Individuals with No Legal History of Abusing, Neglect or Mistreating Residents
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 18, 2017, after a review record, interviews and observations, the State surveyor noted that the facility “failed to protect [31 residents] from abuse when [a direct care staff member] spoke inappropriately in roughly repositioned [a resident].” It was also noted that the abusive staff member “continued providing care for the resident in the facility on December 30, 2016, January 3, 2017, January 4, 2017.”
The deficient practice by the abusive staff member “placed the residents in the facility in Immediate Jeopardy. Furthermore, the facility failed to investigate and report the incident to the State agency as required and thoroughly investigate the allegation of abuse.”
Failure to Develop, Implement and Enforce Policies That Prevent Mistreatment, Neglect or Abuse
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 18, 2017, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to follow their Abuse Policy by reviewing reference checks, to ensure the environment remained free from abuse for the 31 residents of this facility by employment of one direct staff [member] with two unfavorable references.”
Failure to Provide Appropriate Housekeeping and Maintenance Services
In the May 18, 2017, summary statement of deficiencies, the State surveyor noted the facility had failed to “provide housekeeping and maintenance services to maintain a sanitary, orderly, and comfortable interior for residents in the facility on two of three Halls.” The surveyor observed the facility during an initial tour that occurred on May 8, 2017, and again on May 18, 2017, and noted areas “in need of repair, replacement, or cleaning” in the East Hall where ‘unsanitizable’ surfaces were exposed.
Additional maintenance problems were identified in the West Hall including “a gouge in the door to the room approximately 6 inches long”, a brown ring around the base of the toilet, a large gouge in a resident’s room door, and a scuff on the wall behind the headboard.
Failure to Ensure That Every Resident Entering the Nursing Facility without a Catheter Is Not Given Catheter and Receive Proper Treatment to Prevent Urinary Tract Infections
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 18, 2017, the state investigator noted the facility had failed to “provide the necessary treatment and services to promote urinary incontinence for [a resident].” On the date of admission to the Home, the moderately impaired cognition resident was noted as requiring “extensive assistance for transfers, ambulation, locomotion on the unit, toileting, and personal hygiene.” The resident was found to be “continent of bladder and bowel.”
However, the January 30, 2017, Care Area Assessment involving urinary incontinence advises the nursing staff that “the resident needed staff assistant with toileting. The staff would ask the resident if he/she needed to go to use the bathroom, the resident would use his/her call light to let staff know he/she needed to go to the bathroom.”
The April 26, 2017, Care Plan documented that the “resident was at risk for skin breakdown related to occasional incontinence of the bladder and a decrease in mobility. Further review of the patient’s “incontinence record from January 17, 2017, through March 7, 2017, revealed the resident was incontinent on January 20, 2017, and on January 24, 2017.” The surveyor noted that this “would indicate the documentation of the resident being continent on the January 24, 2017, MDS was inaccurate.”
Failure to Provide Every Resident Environment Free of Accident Hazards
As a part of the May 18, 2017, summary statement of deficiencies, the investigator noted the facility’s failure “to provide adequate supervision and assisted devices for four [residents] including safe transfers for two [residents].” It was also noted that the facility had “failed to provide wheelchair foot pedals for [a resident] and failed to provide timely and effective interventions to prevent falls for [a resident].”
The state investigator said that the administration and nursing staff “failed to assess [one resident] and develop and consistently provide interventions to ensure staff provide adequate supervision or assisted devices to prevent repeated falls for [a resident] who experienced seven falls from February 7, 2017, through May 6, 2017.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated March 22, 2017, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “provide adequate supervision and [a failure to] respond to the surrounding door alarms to prevent the elopement of [a resident who] exited the facility through a sounding door alarm. Approximate ten minutes later, an off-duty staff member, driving past the facility, found the resident in the middle of the highway in front of the facility, placing the resident in Immediate Jeopardy.”
The report documents that an ancillary staff member reported that “while driving by the facility on March 16, 2017, at 6:30 PM, [the staff member] observed the resident crossing the highway (speed limit 30 mph in front of the facility).” The staff member “stopped the car, redirected the resident and assisted the resident with [their] walker back to the facility.”
The investigator documented that the facility “failed to provide adequate supervision or assisted devices to prevent the resident from leaving the facility without staff knowledge. Staff failed to respond to a sounding exit door alarm [where the resident] exited the facility and was found by another staff member passing by the facility in the middle of the road.”
Failure to Complete a Care Plan That Meets the Resident’s Needs
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 22, 2017, state investigator identified the facility’s failure “to develop a plan of care to provide interventions [for a resident] identified as an elopement risk. The resident exited the facility without staff knowledge.” The investigator stated that the facility “failed to develop a Plan of Care with interventions to redirect the resident’s wandering behavior and ensure the resident did not exit the facility without the staff’s knowledge.”
Failure to Ensure That Every Resident’s Drug Regiment Is Free from Unnecessary Medications
The State surveyor noted in the May 18, 2017, survey that the facility had failed to ensure that a resident “remained free of unnecessary medications. This deficiency is “related to a failure to monitor [the resident] for adverse consequences related to black box warnings.” The state investigator noted that “the clinical record revealed that staff failed to complete any pain assessments from November 1, 2016, through May 11, 2017, for the resident”. There were addition deficiencies in “that the resident’s Medication Administration Record (MAR) from November 1, 2016, through May 11, 2017, …lacked documentation of any pain assessment.”
Failure to Develop a Program That Investigates, Controls and Keeps Infection from Spreading
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 18, 2017, state investigator noted that the facility failed “to ensure the claim and appropriate disinfecting of glucose meters used for a resident and failed to ensure the processing of limited to prevent cross-contamination and the transmission of infection.” The investigator also noted that the facility “lacked the policy for water temperature for processing laundry [and failed to] ensure the appropriate processing to prevent cross-contamination and the transmission of infection.”
Many times, neglect, abuse or mistreatment are the result of a lack of specialized training of the nursing staff or a failure to hire the best medical professionals. If you have suffered an injury while being mistreated at Prescott Country View Nursing Home, or any facility, consider hiring a nursing home injury attorney who specializes in abuse and mistreatment cases.
A lawyer working on your behalf can ensure you file a claim for compensation before the expiration of the state’s statute of limitation, and hold those responsible for your harm financially and legally accountable. These cases are typically handled through contingency fee arrangements, meaning there is no need to make any upfront payment. The attorney is paid only after they have negotiated an acceptable out of court settlement on your behalf or won your case at trial.
Begin the process now and contact our office today for a free review of your case.
For more information on laws and regulations related to Kansas nursing homes, look here.
Sources:
Attorney Ruben Krisztal
Licensed in Kansas
Linn County Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home