Nursing home have a responsibility to provide the highest level of care according to strict standards. This starts with hiring enough staff members and making sure they are properly trained and supervised. However, they do not always do this and it can harm your loved one. If that has happened, contact the attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center to find out how you can take effective legal action against the nursing home where your loved one resided.
This nursing home is a 160 bed for-profit facility that offers short and long-stay care to residents of the Bakersfield area. The Medicare/Medicaid approved facility is located at:
2211 Mt Vernon Ave
Bakersfield, CA 93306
(661) 872-2121
Bakersfield Rehabilitation
Nursing homes need several things that are critical in order to operate. They need state licensure and federal funding from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These comes with strings attached, meaning that in order to operate and receive federal funding, nursing homes must continuously comply with a myriad of rules and regulations. One of the consequences for breaking these laws is that nursing homes can be fined by either the state or federal governments. In addition, the negative attention from publication of the nursing home’s malfeasance can act to keep families from moving their loved ones to.
Over the past several years, much of the regulation of nursing homes has come on the state level. The Rehabilitation Center of Bakersfield has not been fined by the federal government although the inspection reports have shown a rising number of health and other care deficiencies at the facility.
From a statistical perspective, the residents of this nursing home do not fare well in comparison with the average nursing home in the state. For example, the facility has a rate of pressure ulcers that is nearly double the state average. In addition, a higher share of residents of the nursing home experience a worsening of their ability to move independently. In addition, the nursing home has over three hospitalizations for every 1,000 resident days at the facility, which is much higher than the national average of 1.7 and puts the nursing home in the position of receiving a penalty from Medicare under a new program.
This facility has been cited several times recently for failure to report allegation of abuse or other related incidents. The state law is that all allegations of abuse must be reported to the state regulatory agency and law enforcement within two hours. It does not matter whether the allegation is credible and it must be reported no matter what. Here, one family member reported that their brother told them that they were hit on the head, yet the LVN could not recall whether the incident was reported. Several months before that, the facility failed to respond appropriately when a resident reported that a CNA had pulled their arm. The employee must be suspended while the investigation is pending regardless, but that was not done here. In a one-year span, the facility was cited for reporting deficiencies three times.
The most recent inspection report contained 20 separate health citations issued to the facility. There were several deficiencies in the quality of care. In one case, staff failed to check for gastrostomy tube, which is a feeding tube placed in the stomach used to provide nutrition to people who cannot obtain nutrition by mouth placement prior to administering medication. In another case, the facility failed to follow physician’s orders for medication administration to another resident. There were also findings that staff failed to help residents with the activities of daily life that are essential to keep them clean and prevent infection. Staff failed to wash one resident or brush their teeth for several days. The inspection report also noted that CNAs did not have the appropriate dementia training, which is vital to provide care in a competent and safe manner. This was not the first time in the past year where the nursing home was cited for a training deficiency. There was a prior complaint investigation that found that the facility failed to have a process to ensure the nursing staff had appropriate competencies and skills to care for residents which had the potential to negatively impact the quality of nursing care given to each resident in the facility. In total, there have been 24 different complaint investigations in the past three years that have resulted in a citation issued to the facility.
Many nursing home accidents are the result of either inadequate staff or nurses that have not been properly trained to do their job. Oftentimes, this is the root cause of an accident that has resulted in financial compensation for the family. Nursing homes can be found liable for their failure to train and supervise staff. Contact us today! The attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center have years of experience in litigating nursing home cases on behalf of California families. They can be your champion as your case moves through the legal system. Call them today at (800) 926-7565 to set up your no-risk case consultation and find out how they can help you and your family take effective action.
Attorney Anthony Lanzone
Licensed in California
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home