Vineyard Post Acute Abuse and Neglect Lawyers

Your family can get legal help if your loved one has been harmed while at a nursing home. This extends beyond situations where someone actively hurt your family member to instances where a nursing home failed to provide the proper care that the law requires that your loved one receives. Call the attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center to discuss how your family can receive financial compensation from the nursing home for the harm that your loved one has suffered.

This nursing home is a medium-sized 99 bed for-profit facility that offers short and long-stay care to residents of the Sonoma County area. The Medicare/Medicaid approved facility is located at:

101 Monroe St
Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 763-4109
Vineyard Post Acute

The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to add a host of new regulations with which nursing homes must comply. As a result of the statute, there are numerous rules that govern the quality of care at nursing homes. These rules are incredibly detailed and nursing homes must follow them strictly. If not, they are subject to citations, fines and possibly suspension from the Medicare program. State inspectors will visit the nursing home annually on behalf of the federal government in order to assess the nursing home’s compliance with these regulations. The results of these inspections are available on Medicare’s website.

Vineyard Post Acute has recently experienced a decline in the quality of care at the facility. 2018 saw an increase in the number of deficiencies at both the state and federal level. While the nursing home has not received any federal or state fines, there have numerous instances in which care failed to live up to requirements. This has been especially true in the area of resident assessment and care planning.

Nursing homes are required to have various care plans in place for residents that are drafted after an assessment of the resident’s needs and health issues. These assessments and plans must be continuously addressed and amended as circumstances change. A nursing home cannot simply rely on the same care plan throughout the duration of a resident’s stay in the facility.

Vineyard Post Acute has received a one-star rating from Medicare for the level of resident care in its facility. While there was no fine issued after the most recent annual inspection, there were two incidents detailed in which actual harm was caused to a resident. The first incident involved the water temperature in several of the facility’s sinks. The water temperature reached levels where it was possible to scald residents. Although nobody was actually burned, the issue placed many residents in imminent danger. In addition, there was also a resident who experienced several falls without an update to the fall prevention plan. Every time a resident falls, this plan must be reassessed and updated if necessary to take measures to prevent further falls.

In addition, the facility failed to assess several residents and did not have a complete care plan for four residents. This plan is an essential aspect of each resident’s care and it is an absolute must. While there was some care plan in place for each of these residents, it was not complete as each was missing certain elements that were vital to each resident’s care.

Prior to 2018, the facility had provided residents with a better level of care. The number of health citations in the inspection report quadrupled from 2017 to 2018, resulting in the one-star rating. The number of deficiencies reached 16 in the last inspection cycle, which is double the national average of nursing homes. There was recently a change in ownership of the facility. The state performed an inspection surrounding the change in ownership and the survey found 28 separate health issues, including numerous lapses in care. Many of the deficiencies were noted in the area of nursing care. The hope is that the change in ownership will improve care at the facility and that the degeneration in the quality of care related to the sale process of the nursing home. However, it does take at least one inspection cycle for a nursing home’s quality rating to be upgraded by Medicare.

Has Your Loved One Been Injured at Vineyard Post Acute? Get Legal Help Now

Failure to perform the required assessments and update the plans as necessary can cause medical errors at a nursing home. This threatens a senior’s health and well-being. When it happens as a result of the nursing home’s negligence or any other mistake, your family can receive financial compensation. The first step to that process is filing a lawsuit against the nursing home. In order to effectively do that, you need an experienced lawyer on your side. Contact us! The Nursing Home Law Center has years of experience taking aggressive legal action against nursing homes across California. Call us today at (800) 926-7565 to schedule your free case assessment and to find out how we can put our experience to work on behalf of you and your family. You owe us nothing unless we are able to help you and your family obtain some sort of financial recovery.

Sources

• Inspection Report - 11/15/2018