Many senior citizens living in Ohio nursing homes are subjected to mistreatment by their caregivers, visitors, employees or other patients. These victims are often harmed by physical or sexual abuse, possibly develop life-threatening bedsores, or suffer injuries in a fall that could have been prevented.
If your loved one was abused or neglected while residing in a Ross County nursing facility, the Ohio Nursing Home Law Center Attorneys can help. Let our team of lawyers work on your family’s behalf to ensure you receive monetary recovery for your damages. We will use the law to ensure that those responsible for causing the harm are held legally and financially accountable.
This nursing home is a Medicare and Medicaid-participating "for profit" center providing cares and services to residents of Chillicothe and Ross County, Ohio. The 150-certified bed nursing facility is located at:
230 Cherry St
Chillicothe, Ohio 45601
(740) 773-6470
Westmoreland Place Nursing Center
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Westmoreland Place Nursing Center offers other services. Additional focused care includes long-term care, memory care, and restorative care including physical, occupational and speech therapies.
The federal government has the legal authority to penalize any nursing facility that violates rules and regulations. These penalties include monetary fines and denial of payment for Medicare services. High monetary fines usually indicate extremely severe violations that harmed or could have harmed residents.
Within the last thirty-six months, investigators imposed three monetary penalties against Westmoreland Place Nursing Center, citing substandard care. These penalties include a $41,860 fine on September 20, 2017, a $22,891 fine on July 14, 2016, and a $23,985 fine on April 08, 2016, for a total of $88,736.
This nursing home also received five complaints and self-reported one serious issue over the last thirty-six months that resulted in violation citations. Additional information about this nursing home can be found on the Ohio Long-Term Care Consumer Guide.
To be fully informed on the level of care nursing homes provide, families routinely research Medicare.gov and the Ohio Department of Public Health website database systems for a complete list of deficiencies, violations, and citations.
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.
According to the state surveyors, “the facility failed to provide and document weekly skin assessments and monitor the presence of skin breakdown.” The deficient practice affected one resident with moderate cognitive defects and a Stage II pressure area.
The surveyors reviewed the resident’s Care Plan that documented a pressure area to the buttocks, incontinence, and interventions including the need to apply protective cream and turn and reposition the resident every two hours and as needed.
The surveyors reviewed the resident’s medical records that revealed “no documented evidence of ongoing monitoring of the resident Stage II area and also no weekly skin assessments. This failure was verified by the Director of Nursing.
The nursing home “failed to notify the resident’s representative following a fall.” A review of the facility’s Incident Description from August 24, 2018 revealed “the oncoming nurse was notified by the off going nurse [that the resident] had wheeled their wheelchair down the ramp, struck the wall, and came out of the wheelchair. There was no evidence the resident’s representative was notified of the fall.”
The resident’s Nurse’s Notes revealed that the staff ordered bilateral hip x-rays after the resident had “complained of hip pain.” The x-rays were negative of the fracture or any bone abnormalities. The failure of the nursing staff was “verified by the Director of Nursing verified that there was no documented evidence that the resident’s power of attorney had been notified of the resident’s fall from her wheelchair.
The facility “failed to provide safe transfer via a mechanical lift for a resident, which resulted in an assisted fall with skin tears.” A review of the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment revealed the cognitively intact resident “was noted to be a mechanical lift at all times, and was a two-person, extensive assist.”
However, records show that the resident was “being transferred from her bed to the wheelchair. During the transfer, the mechanical lift and the wheelchair began to tip over, the resident was then lower to the floor, with the assistance of the mechanical lift and [two] State-Tested Nursing Assistants (STNAs), leaving the resident with the skin tear to the back of her left hand and left finger.
Were you the victim of mistreatment, neglect or abuse while living at Westmoreland Place Nursing Center? Contact the Ohio nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. We represent Ross County victims of abuse and neglect in all areas including Chillicothe.
It is always free to discuss your case with our legal team. We provide a 100% “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing until we can secure financial recovery on your behalf.
Sources:
Attorney Nancy Iler
Licensed in Ohio
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home