Information & Ratings on Redwood of Independence (Violations)

When a nursing home has a pattern of care that exhibits a disregard for the needs and safety of its residents, it is distressing to the general public. This feeling is even more pronounced when your loved one is a resident at this facility and has suffered any kind of harm due to the care of lack thereof given by the nursing home. If this occurs, you should know that your family has legal rights. When you contact and retain an attorney, your family's legal rights can be fought for in court if necessary. A competent and aggressive attorney can help hold a nursing home accountable for any deficiencies of care that harm your family member.

Redwood of Independence is a large-sized facility with 130 certified beds. It participates in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The nursing home provides services to residents of Independence, MO and the Greater Kansas City area. It has for-profit ownership and it is located at:

1800 S Swope Dr. 
Independence, MO 64057
(816) 257-2566
URL: http://www.redwoodofindependence.com/

The United States Department of Health & Human Services is the ultimate federal regulatory authority for nursing homes in this country. It delegates its authority to the Centers for Medicaid Services to ensure that these nursing homes are in continued compliance with federal regulation so that they can remain as participants in the Medicare program. Either the federal government or the State of Missouri can impose penalties on a nursing home for any noncompliance. These penalties will be more severe when there is actual harm that is done to a resident. 

Redwood of Independence has faced several legal actions in recent years in addition to the scrutiny that it has drawn from regulators. The facility is part of a chain of nursing homes that has a long-established record of deficient care. These issues extend to this particular branch of the company. 

There have been two suits filed against this facility in recent years. In 2018, there was a wrongful death suit filed against this home. The suits alleges that the facility failed to give an epileptic patient her medication, which resulted in her death. Another suit was filed by the wife of a resident who had dementia. The resident left the facility through a window and suffered an injury in the process. The resident has since moved to another home and the facility has banned the plaintiff.

Additionally, there have been continued stories surfacing in the media regarding care issues at the facility. One person, who was there for rehabilitative services, went public with a story of being left hooked up to a CPM device for nearly eight hours when the proper amount of time to be connected to this machine was two hours. The CPM machine caused damage to the resident's knee joint that has just been replaced. The resident reported being ignored when he was screaming in pain. The same article reported a finding on an annual licensing review where a resident's catheter was botched so badly that the resident was hospitalized with possible sepsis.

The federal inspection reports detail a similarly troubled account of care at the facility. The May 2018 inspection report resulted in 14 separate health citations issued to the facility. There were multiple incidents where staff did not undertake the proper measures when transferring residents to and from their wheelchairs. Some residents' care plans requires that staff use a gait belt when transferring the residents, and in several instances, staff did not use the gait belts. This exposed residents to a higher risk of injury. In fact, there have been investigated complaints of residents who were injured when being transferred from their wheelchairs.

Further, there have been numerous issues with the quality of care insofar as the facility failed to provide the proper grooming and hygienic care to residents. Additionally, there were several noted deficiencies in the area of medications. When a facility administers antipsychotic medications, there must been other alternatives considered along with attempts to gradually reduce the dosage. This comes after continuous reassessments of the medication and whether the resident should continue taking it. The facility does have a rate of residents receiving antipsychotic medications that is nearly 50 percent higher than the national average.

Finally, this facility had a higher rate of hospitalization than the national average. Nationally, nursing homes have residents hospitalized at the rate of 1.7 hospitalizations for every thousand resident days. This nursing home has a rate of 2.53 hospitalizations. Medicare may penalize a nursing home with a higher than average rate of hospitalizations by docking it up to two percent of its reimbursements. 

Call the attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center today at (800) 726-9565 and let us tell you how we can help your loved one and your family, We have a wealth of experience in dealing with these types o care issues at Missouri nursing homes. Call us or get in touch with us online to schedule your free no-risk consultation where can assess the facts of your case and let you know if we believe that you have an actionable legal claim. If so, we can help you through every step of the process. 

Sources:

• Woman warns of Independence nursing home facing state investigation after alleged neglect
• More complaints filed, more problems discovered at Independence nursing home
• Inspection Report - 05/24/2018