Many families have no other option than to place their loved one in a nursing facility to ensure the staff provides the highest level of quality care. Unfortunately, many residents in nursing facilities become the victims of neglect, abuse or mistreatment that results in serious harm or wrongful death. If your loved one suffered abuse or mistreatment while residing in a Prairie County nursing facility, our Arkansas nursing home neglect network of attorneys can provide immediate legal assistance.
Our team of dedicated affiliated lawyers has successfully resolved many compensation claims and fight aggressively on behalf of our clients to ensure they receive the highest amount of monetary recovery for their losses. Also, we work hard to seek justice and hold every party at fault for the mistreatment legally accountable. Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating center is a 70-certified bed facility providing services to residents of Hazen and Prairie County, Arkansas. The "for-profit" long-term care (LTC) home is located at:
200 S. Maple Street
Hazen, Arkansas, 72064
(870) 255-4323
Fined $8000 for substandard care
The investigators for the Arkansas state and federal nursing home regulatory agencies have the legal responsibility of penalizing any facility that has violated rules and regulations that harmed or could have harmed a resident. These penalties often include monetary fines and denying payment of Medicare services.
Within the last three years, investigators fined Spring Place Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center $8000 involving two separate incidents of substandard care. Also, the Nursing Home received twenty formally filed complaints over the last thirty-six months. Additional information concerning penalties and fines can be found on the Arkansas Adult Protective Services website concerning this nursing facility.
Our attorneys have obtained and reviewed data on all Arkansas long-term care homes from various online publicly available sources including the AR Department of Public Health website and Medicare.gov. The information serves as an essential tool when making an informed decision of placing a loved one in facility-care to identify opened investigations, safety concerns, filed complaints, incident inquiries, health violations, and dangerous hazards. Additionally, the data can help families better understand the type of care their loved one is currently receiving at the care center.
According to Medicare, the facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars involving health inspections, four out of five stars for staffing issues and one out of five stars for quality measures. The Prairie County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies, hazardous violations and safety concerns at Spring Place Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 3, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “ensure written notice of transfer or intent to discharge was provided to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman [to] provide residents with access to an advocate to advise and assist them.” The deficient practice involved one of two residents “who was discharged in the past six months and for [three of nine residents] who were transferred to the hospital in the past six months.” The state investigators noted that these “failed practices had the potential to affect eight residents who were discharged in the past six months.”
The survey team reviewed discharge papers in the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set). Some of these residents were anticipated to return to the home after a stay in an acute hospital. However, the investigator said that there was “no documentation in the clinical record that the Ombudsman was notified of the transfer” of numerous residents at the facility. The investigator asked the facility Social Services and Activities Director “if the Ombudsman was notified in writing of [one resident’s] hospitalization.” The activities Director responded, “no ma’am, I did not, but I do not know if someone else did. I mean, we always talk to them, but I am not sure if it is in writing.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Director of Nursing on the morning of April 19, 2018, and asked, “do you have a system in place to notify the Ombudsman in writing on facility-initiated transfers?” The Director replied, “I need to notify the Ombudsman if we cannot meet a resident’s needs, but I did not know we had to notify them if the resident goes to the hospital. Well, you learn something to every day.”
The facility Administrator was interviewed and asked, “do you have a system in place to notify the Ombudsman in writing for facility-initiated transfers?” The Administrator replied, “I just got off the phone with [the state Ombudsman]. Notices about this were not mailed out until [sometime later].” The Administrator stated that “I have only been here two weeks, and it’s something we need to put in place here.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated February 3, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “ensure bruises of an unknown source were promptly and thoroughly investigated to rule out possible abuse.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “who had injuries of unknown origin.” The surveyors documented that this problem involved a failure “to ensure an allegation of abuse/neglect was promptly and thoroughly investigated and protection was put into place to prevent further potential abuse/neglect.” The incident involved a resident who “made an allegation of verbal abuse and neglect.”
The state investigative team also documented the facility had “failed to ensure the injuries of unknown origin and allegations of abuse/neglect were reported to the Office of Long Term Care (OLTC), local police, and other state agencies [according to] State law.” These failed practices “had the potential to affect one resident who had an injury of unknown origin in the past 90 days.” At the time of the incident, there were “47 residents who could have received care from a Certified Nursing Assistant involved in the allegation.”
The survey team reviewed the facility’s January 29, 2017, Incident/Accident Report the documented at 11:30 AM that the resident’s “daughter reported to giving [the resident] a shower [when] she observed two bruises to the upper (right) arm. The first bruise measured 4.0 cm x 1.0 cm.” The second bruise measured “3.0 cm x 3.0 cm.” The bruises were “multiple colors with dark black or blue with yellow and greenish halos.”
The state investigator asked the Director of Nursing during an interview “if there was any documentation of follow-up for this incident.” The Director replied, “This (an incident and accident report) is all I have, and we did no investigation.” The investigators asked the Administrator “if a resident has injuries of unknown origin, should the facility do a thorough investigation?” The Administrator replied, “Yes, we should have completed an investigation.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 3, 2018, the state investigators documented a serious issue. The surveyors said that the facility failed to “ensure pressure ulcer dressings were removed only by licensed nursing staff and that a Certified Nursing Assistant immediately inform a licensed nurse after removing a loose wound dressing and exposing an open wound to enable the nurse to promptly replace the dressing and prevent potential infection.”
The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one of seven residents “with wounds. This failed practice had the potential to affect seven residents who had physician orders for wound care.”
The state survey team observed two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) on April 18, 2018, at 9:34 AM providing the resident incontinent care “who had been incontinent of bowel. There was a border dressing dated April 17, 2018, to a pressure ulcer on the resident’s mid-lower back area. The dressing was loose around the bottom edge, but was not visibly soiled.”
One Certified Nursing Assistant “removed the dressing from the resident’s mid-lower back and placed it into a paper bag of trash, then placed a clean brief underneath the resident. The resident was then positioned onto his back, and a clean brief was secured.”
The investigator asked the CNA “if she should have removed the dressing?” The CNA replied, “If a dressing is peeling, I will take them off.” Approximately eight minutes later at 9:42 AM, “the Treatment Nurse entered the resident’s room and administered pain medication to the resident, stating it would be about one hour before the resident’s wound treatment would begin.”
The investigator asked the Treatment Nurse if a Certified Nursing Assistant “had notified her that she removed the dressing from the resident’s pressure ulcer during the care they provide earlier?” The Treatment Nurse “stated they had not.” The investigator then asked, “if the CNAs should remove dressings from wounds.” The Treatment Nurse replied, “No, they should notify me or the nurse, and if the dressing was loose, it is actually reinforced until the dressing is removed.” When the investigator asked the Director of Nursing “if the CNAs were allowed to remove dressings,” the Director replied, “No.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 3, 2018, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure multi-resident-use glucometers were disinfected between use on different residents and that an approved disinfectant was used to clean the glucometer to prevent the potential spread of infection.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one of six residents with physician’s orders involving glucometer use and another seven residents “whose medication administration was observed. The failed practice had the potential to affect nine residents with physician’s orders.”
The survey team observed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) administering oral medication on the evening of April 16, 2018, “while donning gloves and preparing oral medication for a resident on top of the medication cart.” The observation showed that the LPN “then entered the resident’s room, administer the resident’s oral medication, then wearing the same gloves, performed a finger stick for a CBG test. Still wearing the same gloves, the LPN prepared a dose of insulin in a syringe and administered the insulin injection to the resident. Still, without changing gloves, the LPN set up an insulin treatment and administered to the resident. After completing all the procedures, the LPN picked up the trash and the glucometer and removed them from the room. The LPN placed the glucometer on top of the medication cart, removed her gloves, then without cleaning the glucometer, placed it into a drawer of the medication cart on top of another glucometer and closed the drawer.”
The investigator interviewed the facility Director of Nursing at dinner time on April 19, 2018 and asked “how often the glucometer should be disinfected and what should be used to disinfect it.” The Director replied, “the glucometer should be cleaned after each use, and a disinfectant wipe should be used to clean it.”
The investigator asked the Director “how often a nurse should wash her hands from passing medications.” The Director responded, “after every third resident, hands should be washed, hand sanitizer can be used between handwashing.” The Director “also stated that for any internal medication, like insulin [or] eye drops, the nurse should wash her hands after each resident.”
If your loved one is suffering from abuse, neglect or mistreatment while a resident at Spring Place Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, the Arkansas nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 can help. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Prairie County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Hazen.
Our nursing home abuse attorneys can represent your loved one injured by the inappropriate actions of the facility and staff. We will work on your behalf to ensure your family receives sufficient financial compensation to recover your damages. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. Let us work for you to ensure your rights are protected.
Our attorneys accept every case concerning wrongful death, personal injury and nursing home abuse through a contingency fee arrangement. This agreement will postpone your need to make a payment for our legal services until after our attorneys have resolved your case through a jury trial award or a negotiated out of court settlement. We provide every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing if we cannot obtain compensation on your behalf. Let our network of attorneys start working on your case today to ensure your family quickly receives the financial compensation they deserve for your harm. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
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