Sadly, many residents in nursing facilities become the victim of mistreatment, neglect or abuse at the hands of caregivers, employees or other patients. In some cases, nursing home professionals fail to provide adequate supervision. Other times, the patient becomes a victim of sexual assault by nursing home employees or other residents.
If your loved one was abused, neglected or mistreated while residing in a Conejos County nursing facility, contact the Colorado Nursing Home Law Center attorneys for immediate legal intervention. Our team of lawyers has successfully resolved cases like yours. We will use the law to ensure that those individuals responsible for causing your loved one harm are held legally and financially accountable. Let us begin working on your case today.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing center is a "for profit" facility providing services and cares to residents of La Jara and Conejos County, Colorado. The 60-certified bed long-term care (LTC) nursing home is located at:
39 Calle Miller
La Jara, Colorado, 81140
(719) 274-3311
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Rio Grande Inn Healthcare Center also provides wound care, transportation services and assisted living options.
Both the state of Colorado and federal agencies are legally obligated to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare when investigators find the nursing home violated established nursing home regulations and rules.
Within the last thirty-six months, Rio Grande Inn Healthcare Center received one formally filed complaint that resulted in a citation. Additional information about penalties and fines can be reviewed on the Colorado Department Of Public Health an Environment Department of Public Health Website concerning this nursing facility.
Families can download statistics from Medicare.gov and the Colorado Department of Public Health online site. These web pages detail a comprehensive historical list of all safety concerns, health violations, opened investigations, filed complaints, dangerous hazards, and incident inquiries of every facility statewide. The information can be used to determine the level of health and hygiene care each community long-term care facility provides its patients.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including two out of five stars concerning health inspections, one out of five stars for staffing issues and three out of five stars for quality measures. The Conejos County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Rio Grande Inn Healthcare Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 28, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “meet professional standards of quality for three sampled residents.” Specifically, “the facility failed to take [a resident’s] pulse” before administering the medication and “have blood glucose parameters for Physician notification for ordered sliding-scale fast acting insulin” for a resident and “administer oxygen [according to] Physician’s orders.”
The nursing home also “failed to notify the Physician of oxygen saturation levels below 90% for [a different resident] and administer pain medication for [the fourth resident by] Physician’s orders.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 28, 2017, the state investigative team noted the facility's failure to "provide evidence of complete and thorough investigations for bruises of unknown origin.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved “one resident reviewed for skin condition out of twenty-three sample residents. Specifically, the facility failed to timely and thoroughly assess and investigate a repeated bruising of unknown origin to a dependent resident’s forearms and wrists.”
The surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Accident/Incident Report that reads in part:
“The Accident/Incident Report, exhibit 5-1, is completed for all unexplained bruises. All accidents are incidents where there is injury or the potential to result in injury. An investigation will be initiated within twenty-four hours of the discovery of a resident with an injury of suspicious or unknown origin.”
“Investigation and findings must be documented and submitted to the long-term care facility’s medical staff for review. An incident is defined as any happening, not consistent with the routine operation of the long-term care facility that results in bodily injury other than abuse.”
A review of a resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment dated February 13, 2017, revealed that the resident “had a severe cognitive impairment with a Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) score of 0/15. She requires two-person extensive assistance with bed mobility, transfers, dressing, and toilet use. She requires extensive one-person assistance for locomotion on and off the unit, eating and personal hygiene.”
The survey team interviewed the resident’s daughter midafternoon on March 22, 2017, who said that “she received a call from someone at the facility approximately a week or two weeks before about bruises to her mom’s forearms, front and back.” The daughter said that “the person was not able to tell her how or when the bruises occurred.”
The surveyors observed the resident “several times throughout the survey. During each observation, [the resident] wore a long-sleeved top, Geri sleeves and an afghan wrapped around her, or she was in bed under the covers. The resident’s forearms were never visible. The resident was not interview-able.”
A review of the patient’s Care Plan initiated on February 16, 2017 “identified the potential for alteration and skin integrity related to aging skin, incontinence, poor appetite and poor self-hygiene. Interventions included [a] pressure relieving mattress on the bed and wheelchair; air overlay on the mattress; and ensure overlay is clean and the pump is working properly.”
A review of the resident’s Nursing Departmental Notes between December 1, 2016, and March 23, 2017, revealed numerous problems including “two new self-inflicted scratches were noted to the left arm near the elbow on the interior side [measuring] 1.0 cm x 1.0 cm and the other 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm” on March 20, 2017. The documentation shows that the Physician was notified and “a new order for Geri sleeves to be applied in [the morning] to the bilateral arms and taken off at bedtime.”
Comprehensive ‘head to toe’ assessments were completed numerous times during March 2017. A notation made at 1:02 AM on March 6, 2017, by a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who was assisting the resident and bathing noted “skin intact, no bruising or open areas noted.”
Documentation dated January 16, 2017, at 10:00 PM revealed that the resident was returned from the hospital after the 911 call. At that time, there was “a bruise to the right forearm and a dry spot over an old scar on the coccyx area on wound management.” The notation shows that the Power of Attorney was “notified of a bruise and was aware of the dry area on the coccyx area.”
The surveyor said that the investigation documented on March 13, 2017 “failed to provide evidence when the old bruises originated. The departmental notes and skin assessments did not provide evidence of bruising [before that date].”
The surveyors say that the “facility’s investigation included the original incident report identified as a Level 1 with no date or time noted” that read in part:
“Old bruises noted during a bath. All bruises are faded purple. Resident denies pain, injury or fear. No clenching or guarding noted.” These bruises were documented on the left wrist, left forearm, right wrist, and right forearm.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 28, 2017, a state investigator documented the nursing home’s failure to “provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental or psychosocial well-being [according to] the comprehensive assessment and plan of care.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved two residents “reviewed for pain” and a third resident reviewed for “quality of care.”
The surveyors say that “specifically, the facility failed to have a systematic approach to assess pain in the effectiveness of pain medications for [two residents] and provide non-pharmacological interventions to reduce or relieve pain for [the two residents]; and notify the Physician that blood sugar is outside the Physician order parameters for [a third resident].”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 28, 2017, the state investigative team documented that the facility had failed to ensure one resident reviewed for pressure ulcers “received the necessary treatment and services to prevent the development of pressure ulcers, promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing. Specifically, the facility failed to complete a timely comprehensive assessment of pressure ulcers upon discovery.”
The nursing home also failed to “complete a weekly comprehensive assessment of pressure ulcers, initiate a conference of the Care Plan to address the resident skin needs, and notify the Physician and obtain treatment order for pressure ulcers timely.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 28, 2017, the state surveyor documented that the facility had failed to "ensure two residents “reviewed for unnecessary medications were free from unnecessary medications.” The nursing home specifically failed to “monitor the efficacy of an antianxiety medication for [one resident], attempt nonpharmacological interventions [before] the administration of and as needed anti-anxiety medication for [that resident].”
The nursing home also failed to “monitor/track behavior to determine the efficacy for the use of antipsychotic medication for [a second resident].” The investigative team reviewed the facility’s policies and procedures titled: Psychopharmacological medication use that was revised on January 1, 2013, that reads in part:
“The facility staff should monitor behavioral triggers, episodes, and symptoms. The facility staff should document the number or intensity of symptoms and the resident’s response to staff interventions.”
The incident involved an 80-year-old resident whose MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment revealed that the resident “was severely cognitively impaired with a Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) score of three of fifteen.” The resident “displayed mood problems by sleeping too much, feeling tired and having little energy or poor appetite two of six out of the last fourteen days.”
The documentation revealed that the resident “displayed trouble concentrating July 2, 2011, out of the last fourteen days [and] had no behavior problems identified. She requires the extensive assistance of one person with bed mobility, transfers, dressing, toilet use, and personal hygiene. She received an anti-anxiety medication and an antidepressant medication seven out of seven days.”
The surveyor team observed the resident “on multiple occasions throughout the survey. She was frequently observed in the recliner chair in her room [and] was observed to eat in the main dining room for meals and did converse with her tablemates during the meal. She was observed to be encouraged to attend activities, but she did refuse to attend. No episodes of shortness of breath or crying were observed during the survey process.”
A review of the resident’s Comprehensive Care Plan revised on February 9, 2017, revealed that the patient “was at risk for social isolation as she likes to spend most of her time in her room.”
The resident “received an antidepressant [for her diagnoses]. The Care Plan did identify the resident requires the use of supplemental oxygen but failed to identify the use of [the anti-anxiety medication] as an intervention” for SOB (making compulsive, loud noises and crying noisily).
Do you believe that your loved one was harmed or injured while living at Rio Grande Inn Healthcare Center? If so, contact the Colorado nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now for immediate legal intervention. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Conejos County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in La Jara. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our reputable attorneys working on your behalf can successfully resolve your nursing home abuse victim case against the facility and staff members that caused your loved one harm. Our attorneys accept every case concerning wrongful death, personal injury and nursing home abuse through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the requirement to make a payment to our network of attorneys until after we have successfully resolved your claim for compensation through a negotiated out of court settlement or jury trial award.
Our network of attorneys offers every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to resolve your case successfully, you owe us nothing. Our team of attorneys can begin working on your behalf today to make sure you are adequately compensated for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
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