Nursing homes have a legal duty and obligation to treat seniors with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Not only is it a moral obligation, but it is a regulatory requirement. When your loved one has suffered harm at a nursing home where they have either been abused or have received subpar care and treatment, you have a cause of action against the nursing home. The Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can help you.
This nursing home is a medium-sized 99 bed for-profit facility that offers short and long-stay care to residents of the Los Angeles. The Medicare/Medicaid approved facility is located at:
13226 Studebaker Rd
Norwalk, CA 90650
(562) 868-0591
Villa Elena Healthcare Center
California is known as one of the strictest states when it comes to nursing home inspection and regulation. The state’s nursing homes generally have many more citations than the national average because the state inspectors that carry out the inspections for the state and the federal government are extremely strict and discerning. However, this does not mean that nursing homes in the state provide a high level of service and are the victim of overzealous regulators. In the case of Villa Elena Healthcare, there is a long track record of deficient care that has been documented by numerous inspection reports that detail treatment of residents that falls short of requirements.
Villa Elena Healthcare received two stars in the area of staffing based on the numbers that it reported to Medicare. Since California has minimum staffing requirements mandated by state law, its nursing homes generally will not get one star ratings in this area. Nonetheless, this nursing home has a lack of RNs on staff. Most of its staffing is skewed towards lower cost and lower skilled workers with only 19 minutes of RN time per resident per day. This is less than half of the national average and will lead to a deficit of skilled nursing care for residents.
Villa Elena Healthcare also has an elevated rate of hospitalization among its long-stay residents. The national average hospitalization rate is 1.75 stays for every thousand resident days at the facility. This facility has a rate of 3.78, which is more than double that of the average home. Medicare recently started an incentive program that rewards homes with low hospitalization rates, but penalizes facilities with elevated rates. This statistics puts the nursing home in the position of receiving a penalty. In addition, nearly one in three residents of the nursing home experience a decline in their ability to move independently.
This nursing home has performed far worse than average on both its state and federal inspections. Villa Elena received 29 different health citations on its last federal inspection, more than double the average of California nursing homes. In addition, the nursing home has received citations as a result of four separate complaint inspections conducted in a six-month period between July 2018 and January 2019. One citation, which resulted in a fine from the State of California, involved a situation in which an allegation of abuse was made against an RNA. The staff member was not removed from duty while the investigation was proceeding as is the requirement. There was another incident at around the same time where the facility failed to report that there was an allegation that a staff member made inappropriate gestures towards a resident. Regardless of whether this was true, this would be an instance of verbal abuse which is required to be reported to state authorities within a set period of time.
Other complaint investigations addressed situation in which staff neglected to perform their basic required duties. One resident had their call light ignored for extended periods of time and did not receive the proper perineal care which is necessary to build their dignity and prevent an infection.
This part of a pattern of inspection reports and complaint inspections that have revealed extensive issues with lapses in care at the facility. Villa Elena has received 12 health citations as a result of complaint investigations in the past three years. The facility has a particularly poor record in the area of resident’s rights, having received a total of 24 citations in this area in the past three years. Residents have made allegations about verbal abuse and rude nurses. The 2019 inspection report gave the facility a citation for failure to address a situation where a resident was told “Why don't you just shut up and let me do my job” by a nurse.
Poor treatment alone is not necessarily enough to constitute grounds for a lawsuit. However, when a resident suffers an injury that can be attributed to the care or treatment that they received, your family may have a cause of action against the nursing home where your loved one resides. The best way to learn whether your family has adequate grounds to file a lawsuit, it is necessary to speak with an attorney with experience in dealing with nursing homes. Contact us - at the Nursing Home Law Center, we have dealt with nursing homes across California where seniors have been injured. Call us today at (800) 926-7565 to find out if you have a viable lawsuit against a California nursing home.
Attorney Anthony Lanzone
Licensed in California
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home