Do you suspect that the nursing facility providing your loved one care failed to meet the professional standards of quality? Do you believe that your loved one has become the victim of mistreatment, neglect or abuse at the hands of their caregivers, employees, visitors or other residents? If so, you might be able to hold the nursing home and others legally and financially accountable for their inappropriate behavior or lack of action to protect your loved one.
Our nursing home abuse affiliated attorneys in Arkansas have represented many families in Ashley County involved in abuse and neglect cases resulting in injury or wrongful death by those entrusted to provide care. Let us assist your family in obtaining monetary recovery for your losses. We can use both criminal and civil tort laws to ensure your family is adequately compensated for your damages. We can begin working on your case today.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a 76-certified bed center providing services to residents of Crossett and Ashley County, Arkansas. The "for-profit" Medicare/Medicaid-participating home is located at:
118 Jerry Selby Drive
Crossett, Arkansas, 71635
(870) 364-1534
Fine $12,626 for substandard care
Arkansas and the federal government have the legal obligation to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if the home has violated established nursing home regulations and rules. In severe cases, the nursing facility will receive multiple penalties if investigators find the violations are severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Within the last three years, The Stonegate Villa Health and Rehabilitation Center was fined once by the government nursing home regulatory agency on November 23, 2016 for $12,626. Also, the nursing home received three formally filed complaints in the last thrity-six months. Additional information concerning penalties and fines can be found on the Arkansas Adult Protective Services website concerning this nursing facility.
A list of filed complaints, dangerous hazards, health violations, safety concerns, incident inquiries, and opened investigations on statewide long-term care homes can be reviewed on Arkansas Department of Public Health and Medicare.gov database websites. Many families use this information to determine the best facility to place a loved one who requires the highest level of hygiene assistance and skilled health care.
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 Ashley County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Stonegate Villa Health And Rehabilitation that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated November 23, 2016, the state investigator noted the facility's failure to "ensure an incident of possible physical abuse was immediately and thoroughly investigated after a resident who was heard screaming during care [and] accused a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) of physical abuse.” The resident was “subsequently found with bruising to multiple areas.” The survey team documented the nursing home’s failure to “ensure protective measures were immediately implemented to prevent further potential abuse.”
The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “who was allegedly physically abused by staff. These failed practices resulted in Immediate Jeopardy, which caused or could have caused serious harm, injury or death to [a resident] who sustained bruising and reported complaints of increased pain levels and nightmares after the incident.” The survey team said that the failures “had the potential to affect eighteen residents who resided on the 400 Hall on November 4, 2016, and twenty residents who resided on the 400 Hall from November 5, 2016, through November 19, 2016.”
The allegation of abuse involved a resident whose Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) report revealed that the resident “requires extensive assistance of one person for bed mobility, transfers, dressing, toilet use, personal hygiene; balance moving proceeded to a standing position, moving on and off toilet and surface-to-surface transfer not steady.”
The documentation also showed that the resident was “only able to stabilize with staff assistance; was non-ambulatory, and had functional limitation range of motion to the upper and lower extremities on one side.” The report shows that the resident also “exhibited verbal behavior symptoms directed toward others in one of three of the past seven days that did not put the resident at significant risk for illness or injury and did not significantly interfere with care.” The documentation revealed that the resident “had no physical behavior symptoms, did not resist care, and experienced pain on an occasional basis” rated as a five on a 1 to 10 scale.
The survey team reviewed the 7:30 AM, November 5, 2016, Nurse’s Notes that said that a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) “reported to the nurse, the resident is hurting. The resident [was] assessed with complaints of legs hurting when transferred. No open areas or skin tears to the bilateral lower extremities at this time.” By the following afternoon on November 6, 2016, the resident complained of bilateral extremity pain and pain all over” rated as a ten on a 1 to 10 scale with ten being the worst pain.
The Office of Long Term Care (OLTC) Witness Statement Form was filled out by the Certified Nursing Assistant and revealed that in the early hours of Saturday that the CNA was called out of the patient’s room to assist another resident and when entering that residents room, assisted the resident to the restroom. When the CNA “proceeded to raise [her] and set her on the side of the bed, she began to have an attitude.”
The CNA “apologize for the weight/delay and began to align the wheelchair with the bed. Her feet were in place with proper non-skid socks on” when the CNA began assisting [her] to the chair.” The resident’s “leg moved/kicked me but [the CNA] was still able to place her in the chair.” She then complained that the CAN “was going to drop her and that her leg hurt, and that the [CNA] had hurt it.
After relocating the patient back into the chair, the patient was “angered.” The CNA “still proceeded to take her to the restroom where she was placed on the toilet. Once on the toilet, she was still angered and told [the CNA] to get out and get someone else to help her.” The CNA told her that they were “going to get another person to help.”
After getting another Certified Nursing Assistant to provide the resident care, she asked that CNA to examine the resident “to see if anything was wrong/hurt.” The statement said by the next day, the Certified Nursing Assistant came to work and saw that the resident was “up for the day and complaining of pains all over her body.”
The resident stated to the CNA that another Certified Nursing Assistant “had been very rough with her. She stated that she had thrown her down on the arm of her chair and was pulling and yanking her very hard.” The angered resident stated that the other CNA “was putting her thumbs into her skin [and] was told to continue to press her thumbs into the resident’s skin. She also stated that [that CNA] told the oncoming CNA that [the resident] was in one of her moods.”
The state investigator team noted that there was “no documentation to indicate [that the Certified Nursing Assistant] reported the resident’s allegation of abuse to the facility administration.” At that time, the CNA “was unavailable for an interview during the survey.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyor’s reviewed the Police Department Incident Report dated November 6, 2016, at 10:04 AM that details that the resident had “filed the complaint on the suspect [the CNA …] for physical and verbal abuse.” The resident stated that “she called for an Aide for help to use the bathroom and during … helping her, she was very rough, repeatedly scratching and jerking on [the resident] to get her out of bed.” The resident said that the CNA dropped the resident “on the arm of the wheelchair very aggressively [causing the resident to suffer] several large bruises to her legs and left forearm.” The resident also stated that the allegedly aggressive CNA “was jabbing her in the breast with her thumbs, causing large amounts of pain.”
The police officer reported that the facility said that they would be transporting the resident to the hospital “to receive a full evaluation of the injuries she received.” The resident stated to the police officer that “this is not the first time [the allegedly abusive CNA] had treated her in this manner, it was just the worst.”
The investigative team then reviewed the Certified Nursing Assistant Scheduled Assignment Sheet revealing scheduling during that time frame. The Director of Nursing said that the CNA had not worked with the resident in that hall “since the incident.” The investigator asked the Director if the allegedly abusive CNA was “suspended during the investigation?”
The Director replied that the CNA “only worked two days a week, Fridays and Saturdays. She was suspended the next week but then does not work from Sunday through Thursday. She was off during that time. She was counseled when she came back to work that Friday [and] she does not work [on the resident’s] hall anymore.”
The investigators asked the Director when they were “first notified of the allegation with [the allegedly abusive CNA and the resident].” The Director stated that they had talked to the Certified Nursing Assistant on Sunday, November 6, 2016, by phone and that they had written up the CNA but did not know that “we do a formal write up.”
The surveyors asked the Director if they had talked to any of the other residents. The Director replied that they had talked to the resident’s roommate and that “she did not have any problem." The Administrator stated that they had talked to “other residents with Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) of ten or greater on the hall and they had no problems."
The investigators wanted to know why the Administrator did not come in on Sunday and begin an investigation and if that was the policy of the facility.” The Director replied that “Yes [that is the policy], something that will probably change." When asked if the Director had an unsubstantiated allegation of abuse, the Director replied, “I cannot say what did or did not happen. I spoke with [the resident and the Certified Nursing Assistant]. I know since [the resident’s daughter] was terminated, things have escalated with [the resident].” The CNA “had not had any other complaints, [and…] we felt she was trainable to use a gait belt.”
The Director of Nursing told the investigators that they did not have any monitoring documentation on the Certified Nursing Assistant involving enhancement or monitoring supervision. The Director stated that “we did not do any monitoring. To be honest, we did not feel that there was any abuse because we could not prove [the CNA] did anything willfully.”
When asked if the CNA “was immediately suspended?, The Director said “No, because we were not aware of what happened; it was not reported until the sixth. If I had known about it, she would not have been here; we would have proceeded with the suspension.”
If you believe your loved one has been harmed or injured while residing at Stonegate Villa Health and Rehabilitation, call the Arkansas nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights on behalf of Ashley County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Crossett. Our knowledgeable attorneys offer legal representation to patients with cases that involve abuse and neglect happening in public and private nursing facilities. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. Let us fight aggressively on your behalf 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 postpones the need to pay for our legal services until after our legal team has resolved your claim for compensation through a jury trial award or negotiated settlement out of court. Our network of attorneys provides every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This promise ensures that your family will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf. Let our network of attorneys start working on your case today to ensure your family receives the financial compensation they deserve for your harm. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
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