Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center received 60 citations for violations of public health code between 2017 and 2021, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on June 11, 2021. The facility has also been the subject of fines totaling $18,000 since 2011. The Campbell Hall nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of 15 inspections by state surveyors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from abuse or neglect. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code ensure nursing home residents “the right to be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” A March 2021 citation found that Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that it failed to prevent neglect in an instance where a resident’s “bilateral heel wound dressings were not changed in the time frame specified in the Medical Doctor’s (MD’s) orders.” The citation goes on to describe documentation that the resident “required extensive two-person assistance with bed mobility and transfer” and “extensive one-person assistance with dressing and toilet use.” The resident’s physician’s orders required that bilateral heel booties be “applied at all times” and that the resident’s wound dressings be changed in a certain manner. According to the citation, it was not changed between 7am and 3pm on a certain day, with a Licensed Practical Nurse stating in an interview that she had failed to change the resident’s wound dressing during the specified time frame. That LPN later refused to change the resident’s dressing when directed by a superior, according to the citation, and her termination at the facility was subsequently terminated.
2. The nursing home failed to prevent significant medication errors. Under Section 483.45 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must keep residents “free of any significant medication errors.” An August 2020 citation found that Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that the nursing home failed to prevent significant medication errors for 40 of 93 residents. It goes on to describe a power outage at the facility which disabled its Electronic Medical Record system, with staff unaware of “how to operationalize their back up system.” As such, residents at the facility “did not receive significant medications including insulin, anti-coagulants” and antibiotics until the next day, resulting in “potential for serious harm that is immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of 93 residents,” according to the citation. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of relevant nurses.
3. The nursing home did not maintain sufficient nursing staff. Under Section 483.35 of the Federal Code, nursing home facilities must “have sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies and skills sets to provide nursing and related services to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.” An August 2020 citation found that Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which there was no registered nurse on duty to administer antibiotic medication to a resident, who consequently “did not receive nine doses of ordered medication.” In an interview, the facility’s Administrator said that the nursing home had been having staffing issues, and that as such it had been “mandating the staff to do doubles,” using staffing agencies, and giving overtime. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of licensed nursing staff about their responsibility to notify superiors when medication doses are missed due to insufficient staffing.
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC work diligently to protect the rights of nursing home residents. Please contact us to discuss in the event you have a potential case involving neglect or abuse.
