Do you believe that the care provided to your loved one living in a nursing facility does not meet professional standards of quality? Do you think your loved one might be the victim of abuse, neglect, mistreatment or injury at the hands of their caregivers, other residents, visitors or employees? If so, the nursing facility might not be following state and federal statutes that require them to comply with established procedures and protocols. Our nursing home abuse affiliated attorneys have represented many families in the Richland County area whose loved one was harmed by those entrusted to provide them care. We can help your family obtain financial compensation for your damages and seek justice to hold those responsible for hurting your loved one legally and financially accountable.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Wildewood Downs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, contact our South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers.
This Nursing Center is a "for-profit" facility providing services and cares to residents of Columbia and Richland County, South Carolina. The 32-certified bed Long-Term Care Nursing Home is located at:
1215 Wildewood Downs Circle
Columbia, SC 29223
(803) 788-5115
In addition to providing skilled nursing care, the facility also offers:
The federal government, through nursing home regulatory agencies, can impose fines or deny payment for Medicare services for any nursing facility with severe violations of rules and regulations. Typically, hefty fines are levied against the nursing home when the most egregious violations have occurred that harmed or could harm a resident. Within the last three years, nursing home regulators fined this facility $204,620 on April 1, 2016. Additional documentation about penalties and fines can be found on the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Website concerning Wildewood Downs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Our network of attorneys review data on every long-term and intermediate care facility in South Carolina. Families can obtain this publicly available information by visiting numerous state and federal government databases including Medicare.gov and the South Carolina Department of Public Health websites. These sites provided the latest information on opened investigations, dangerous hazards, filed complaints, safety concerns, incident inquiries, and health violations on every facility in the United States. This data is a valuable tool to use when choosing the best location to place a loved one who needs the highest level of services and care in a safe environment.
According to Medicare, the facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, one out of five stars for staffing issues and four out of five stars for quality measures. The Richland County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found many health violations, safety concerns and deficiencies at Wildewood Downs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center including:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 12, 2017, a notation was made by a state investigator concerning the facility's failure to "insurer [one resident] was appropriately assessed to administer his own medications." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved a resident who "had in his possession was self-administering eye drops for [their medical condition]." The incident involved a cognitively intact resident who "had adequate vision, required supervision from staff to complete most of his Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)."
The state investigator reviewed the resident's physician's orders and Medication Administration Record (MAR) dated January 2017, that "indicate staff was administering the eye drops each night." The investigator documented that "nothing could be found in the resident's medical record indicating the assessment had been done to indicate [the resident] was able to administer his own medication, including eye drops." Also, the investigator stated that "no physician's orders were found in the record for the resident to self-administer."
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 12, 2017, a state surveyor documented the nursing home's failure to "ensure infection control policy and procedures related to a medication pass, isolation precautions sanitation [protocols] were followed." The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved four residents at the facility. The investigator stated that "infection control breaches have the potential to affect all residents in the facility."
The investigator observed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) removing "the dirty dressing from a stage III sacral ulcer and proceeded to clean the wound and apply a new dressing without changing gloves. After cleaning the wound, and applying new dressing," the LPN "removed her gloves and reached in her pocket to obtain a pen to date the dressing. After dating the dressing, [the LPN] washed her hands."
The state investigator interviewed the facility Director of Nurses who "confirmed the LPN did not follow facility policy during wound care." The investigator reviewed the facility policy titled: Hand Washing that reads in part, "Handwashing should be completed after removing gloves."
An observation was made of a second Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) during a blood sugar check for a resident that revealed the LPN "using a lancet to obtain a blood sample for the glucometer." The LPN "set the used lancet on the bedside table, removed her gloves, washed her hands and went to administer oral medications to [the resident]." At that time the LPN "picked up the glucometer and use the lancet with bare hands and went out of the room to dispose of the lancet in the Sharp's container on the medication card in the hallway." It was then that the LPN "cleaned the glucometer with an alcohol wipe and placed [it] in a Ziploc plastic bag and back of the car, picked up a pan to document the procedure and proceeded to push the medication cart down the hall." The investigator stated that the LPN "failed to complete hand hygiene after handling the used lancet and glucometer with gloved hands."
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 12, 2017, a state surveyor documented the facility's failure to ensure the medication orders were accurately recorded." The investigator interviewed the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) providing the resident care who confirmed that the medication "was incorrectly transcribed." The LPN stated that she had incorrectly transcribed the orders and should not have administered the medication subcutaneously (under the skin) instead of sub-lingually (under the tongue) as prescribed by the physician.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 1, 2016, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to "provide the opportunity to formulate an advance directive for [two residents] reviewed for advance directives. The facility failed to document [one resident's] choice to be a full code and communicate this choice to the interdisciplinary team and failed to ensure orders and treatments reflected this choice."
The investigator also noted that the facility "failed to document why a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order was obtained for [a resident] ordered that family or the resident be consulted prior to obtaining the order." This deficiency initiated an Immediate Jeopardy at the facility at a level "identified at a scope and severity of J." One incident involved a resident was admitted to the facility with an advance directive signed by a physician indicating that the resident "was able to consent to Health Care decisions."
The investigator interviewed the Director of Admissions who "reviewed the advance directive paperwork and stated," that they note the resident wishes to be a DNR [Do Not Resuscitate] on the form titled Advance Directives." The Director stated that "no other paperwork related to Advance Directives is completed by the Admissions Department." The Director stated that "after completing the paperwork for a newly admitted residents, the information is given to the Social Services Director for completion." However, a review of the Social Services notes documented on the day of admission and read that the patient "has chosen to be a full code [wants to be resuscitated]." The investigator stated that the "documentation was signed by the Director of Social Services." The investigator interviewed the facility Social Services Director who stated that they "review the paperwork from admissions prior to speaking to the newly admitted residents."
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 1, 2016, the state agency surveyor noted the facility's failure to "provide privacy during the administration of an insulin injection for [one resident] [who] received insulin injections during medication administration." The state investigator observed the insulin injection of a resident by a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) who "failed to close the room door and window blinds prior to administering the injection." The investigator interviewed the LPN who "confirmed that [they] had not provided privacy during the administration of the insulin injection for the resident." A review of the facility policy titled: Administration of Insulin reads "Provide privacy for the resident."
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 1, 2016, a state surveyor documented the facility's failure to "ensure the needed services of resuscitation were initiated for [one resident] reviewed for services upon death. The facility failed to protect [the resident when the resident] did not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when indicated." The deficient practice by the nursing staff initiated an Immediate Jeopardy "which was identified at a scope and severity of J." The investigator stated that the resident was "not being afforded the opportunity to formulate an advance directive."
The survey team reviewed the facility's form titled Advance Directives that revealed "a handwritten notation which indicated the resident wishes to be a DNR [Do Not Resuscitate]. The handwritten notation was not updated and was not signed, and there was no documentation in the form to indicate that this was the resident's choice or how/when this information was obtained." The investigative team reviewed the social services note obtained on the day of admission indicating that the resident "has chosen to be a full code [chooses to be resuscitated]. The documentation was signed by the Director of Social Services." During an interview, the Social Services Director said that they had "talked to the resident about [their] wishes concerning code status upon admission, explaining the meaning of full code status." The resident indicated to the Social Services Directed that they "wanted to be a full code."
However, when the resident's Medical Records were reviewed "there were no physician's orders related to code status written upon admission, and no order related to code status was written and documented in the record until the date and time that [the resident] expired." A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), received the "Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order on that date and time." The resident's Nurse's Notes indicate that at 11:25 PM on the date of their death, the resident "was noted with no vital signs and was unresponsive to tactile stimuli." The notation further states that "the resident was pronounced dead, and the resident's family member was notified."
If you suspect your loved one has suffered harm through abuse, neglect or mistreatment while a resident at Wildewood Downs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, call the South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Richland County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Columbia. 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 fight aggressively on your behalf to ensure your rights are protected.
We accept every nursing home neglect case, wrongful death lawsuit, personal injury claim for compensation through contingency fee agreements. This arrangement postpones your need to make a payment for our legal services until after our attorneys have resolved your case through a jury trial award or negotiated out of court settlement. We provide every client a "No Win/No-Fee" Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf, you owe our legal team nothing. Our team of attorneys can begin working on your behalf today to make sure you are adequately compensated for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Nathan Hughey
Licensed in South Carolina
Columbia Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home