Negligent harm to a nursing home patient can take on many forms. In some incidents, the caregivers will misbehave. Other times, other residents will physically, mentally or sexually assault a patient caused by a lack of proper supervision from the nursing staff. Often, the nursing home is significantly understaffed or operated by Nurses and Nurse’s Aides that have not received adequate training. In some cases, the staff failed to follow acceptable standards of quality in meeting the health and hygiene needs of the residents.
If your loved one was injured while residing in a Shelby County nursing facility, the Tennessee Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal intervention. Our team of dedicated lawyers has represented many patients and can help your family too. Contact us now to ensure that all the necessary paperwork is prepared and filed in the proper county courthouse before the Tennessee statute of limitations expires concerning your case.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a 233-certified bed center providing services to residents of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee. The "for profit" Medicare/Medicaid-participating home is located at:
3909 Covington Pike
Memphis, Tennessee, 38135
(901) 377-1011
In addition to providing 24-hour skilled nursing care, Spring Gate Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center also offers:
Tennessee and federal investigators have the legal authority to penalize any nursing home that has been cited for a serious violation that harmed or could have harmed a nursing home resident. Typically, these penalties include imposed monetary fines and denial of payment for Medicare services.
Within the last three years, the federal government imposed monetary fines against the Spring Gate Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center on two occasions including a $7995 fine on November 15, 2017 and a massive $161,241 fine on September 30, 2016 for a total of $169,236.
Also, Medicare denied payment for services rendered on September 30, 2016 due to substandard care. Within the last thirty-six months, the nursing home received fourteen formally filed complaints. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Tennessee Department of Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Detailed information on each long-term care facility in the state can be obtained on government-run websites including Medicare.gov and the Tennessee Department of Public Health website. These regulatory agencies routinely update their list of opened investigations, filed complaints, dangerous hazards, health violations, safety concerns, and incident inquiries on nursing homes statewide.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, three out of five stars for staffing issues and four out of five stars for quality measures. The Shelby County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Spring Gate Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated November 15, 2017, the state surveyors noted that the facility had failed to “provide wound care in a manner that promotes healing and prevent the potential spread of infection.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “reviewed with pressure ulcers.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Handwashing/Hand Hygiene that reads in part:
“Employees will wash their hands for ten to fifteen seconds using antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial soap and water under the following conditions. After removing gloves. If the hands or not visibly soiled, use and alcohol-based hand rub containing 60% – 95% [bacteria killing solution] for all the following situations.”
“Before handling clean or soiled dressings, gauze pads. Before moving from a contaminated body site to a clean body site during resident care. After handling used dressings, contaminated equipment. After removing gloves. The use of gloves does not replace handwashing/hand hygiene.”
The surveyors reviewed the resident’s medical records and Annual MDS (Minimum Data Set) and Quarterly MDS documenting that the resident “was comatose in a persistent vegetative state, was totally dependent on staff for all activities of daily living, was at risk for pressure ulcers and had a Stage IV pressure ulcer that was present on admission. The skin and ulcer treatment included pressure reducing devices for bed and chair, nutrition/hydration program, pressure ulcer care, and the application of nonsurgical dressing and ointments/medications other than to the feet.”
Upon review of the resident’s Care Plan dated April 4, 2016 and last reviewed on October 26, 2017, it documented a pressure ulcer with “alteration and skin integrity related to pressure wound to the sacrum. Interventions [included] pressure relieving devices for bed/chair.”
The investigators observed a resident in the resident’s room on numerous occasions on November 14, 2017 while the resident was “lying in bed. The power was off on the pressure mattress pump, and it was not functioning.” The investigators interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) providing the resident care who confirmed that the resident “had a Stage IV pressure ulcer to the sacral area.”
During an interview with the facility Registered Nurse (RN), it was confirmed that “the pressure mattress pump was not functioning.” The investigators brought a member of the maintenance staff into the resident’s room and assess the pressure mattress pump and “reattach the court to the pressure mattress pump, and turned the mattress on.” The staff member from the maintenance department stated that the cord was “wrapped around the side rail and came unplugged from the pressure mattress pump.”
The surveyors observed wound care to the resident that was performed by a Licensed Practical Nurse. The LPN cared for the resident’s “Stage IV pressure ulcer to the resident sacral area. Observations of the resident sacral area revealed a half-dollar sized open wound with granulation tissue to the wound bed and also two smaller .5 to 1.0 cm pink open areas.” The LPN said that “the smaller areas were from a skin condition (pemphigoid) and stated she would begin new treatment with Dermaseptin that was ordered for the resident on an as-needed basis.”
However, as the LPN “cleaned the sacral area wounds with wound cleanser” the LPN “changed gloves without performing hand hygiene twice during cleansing, dried the sacral area with gauze, changed gloves without performing hand hygiene, packed the open wound with [medication]-soaked gauze, and applied Dermaseptin to the buttocks using a gloved hand without performing hand hygiene.” The surveyor noted that the LPN “failed to perform hand hygiene after removing soiled gloves during wound care.”
The survey team interviewed the Director of Nursing who said “she expected nursing staff to ‘wash their hands’ during wound care after cleansing the wound and removing gloves.” The Director also stated that it was unacceptable that the resident’s “pressure mattress pump was off during observations” on two different occasions on November 14, 2017.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 27, 2017, a state surveyor documented that the nursing facility had failed to “immediately notify the resident’s legal representative before change in room assignments.” The deficient practice by the administration involved one resident “reviewed for room change notification.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Room to Room Transfers that reads in part: “A roommate will be informed of any transfer into his/her room.”
The investigators reviewed the facility’s daily census sheets involving the resident who “had three different roommates” during a short time frame. The investigator said that there was “no documentation in the medical record that [the resident or the resident’s] responsible party had been notified about the new roommates.”
The survey team interviewed the resident’s responsible party during a phone interview who “confirmed that they had not been notified of the roommate changes.” During an interview with the facility Social Worker, it was confirmed that the resident had three new roommates in a short time frame and that the responsible party had not been notified “before any of the roommates were admitted to [the resident’s] room.” The facility Director of Nursing confirmed that “every resident in the facility should receive advance notice of a new roommate or roommate change.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 30, 2016, the state investigator noted the facility's failure to "ensure a complete, thorough and timely investigation was conducted for an injury of unknown origin.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved two residents “reviewed with an injury of unknown origin.” The surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse Prevention Program that reads in part:
“Injury of unknown source is defined as an injury that meets both of the following conditions: “The source of the injury was not observed by any person, or the source of the injury could not be explained by the resident; and, the injury is suspicious because of the extent of the injury or the location of the injury; or the number of injuries observed at one particular point in time, or the incident of injuries over time.”
The investigators reviewed a resident’s closed medical records and Care Plan that provided guidance to the nursing staff on the resident’s non-pressure wound. The documentation revealed “impaired skin integrity related to trauma wound to the left ischium. Interventions [include] medication/treatment as ordered – see Medication Administration Record and Treatment Administration Record for specific instructions.” The record showed a wound assessment with a “traumatic wound to the left ischium, full thickness, with granulation tissue.”
The surveyors asked a Registered Nurse (RN) about the resident’s ischium wound. The RN stated that the staff “told me to come look at it, it was on her lower back at the crease, she was in bed, and there was no pressure here, and it looked like a cut, so it was traumatic and not pressure.” The RN said that the resident did “not know what happened.”
The surveyors asked the Registered Nurse “if any investigation/incident was done because it was not known how the wound occurred.” The Registered Nurse replied, “I do not know.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyors interviewed the facility Director of Nursing and asked “if an investigation was done or should have been done for this traumatic wound.” The Director replied that they would “just treat it like a traumatic wound.” When asked if “an investigation should be done since it was an unknown injury”the Director replied, “I will see what I can find.” However, the surveyors documented that “no investigation [report] was provided for this injury.”
Was your loved one victimized by caregivers while living at Spring Gate Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center? If so, contact the Tennessee nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. Our attorneys fight aggressively on behalf of Shelby County victims of mistreatment in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Memphis.
Our seasoned attorneys can assist your family in successfully resolving your financial compensation claim against the nursing facility and staff that caused your loved one harm. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. We can be working on your claim for compensation now to ensure you receive adequate monetary recovery and your rights are protected.
We accept all nursing home cases involving personal injury, abuse and wrongful death through a contingency fee arrangement. This agreement postpones the need to pay for legal services until after we have resolved your case through a negotiated out of court settlement or jury trial award. We can begin working on your case today to ensure your family receives monetary recovery for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Cameron Jehl
Licensed in Tennessee
Tennessee Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home