The New York State Department of Health (DOH) cited the East Neck Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a 300-bed facility located in West Babylon, New York, for failing to respect patients’ dignity by not providing timely and adequate incontinence care. According to a DOH report issued in April 2013, the nursing home failed to “promote care […]
Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing Aide Faces Four Years in Prison for Allegedly Slapping Elderly Dementia Patient in the Face
Rose Marie Hall, a 53-year-old certified nursing aide (CNA) at the North Shore University Hospital Stern Family Center in Manhasset, New York, was arrested in June 2014 for allegedly slapping a 78-year-old resident in the face. The resident suffers from dementia, stroke-related complications, diabetes, and behavioral issues. She is totally dependent upon staff members for […]
Nursing Home Fined $5K after Unsupervised Alzheimer’s Patient Chokes to Death
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) fined the Loretto Health & Rehabilitation Center, a 585-bed facility located in Syracuse, New York, $5,000 after an unsupervised Alzheimer’s patient choked to death. According to the DOH report about the incident, the resident was admitted into the facility on July 16, 2012 after she underwent hip-repair […]
Patient’s Leg Amputated after Nursing Home Fails to Provide Timely Treatment for Broken Ankle
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) issued a citation against the Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a 262-bed facility in Scotia, New York, for failing to provide adequate and timely treatment for a resident’s broken ankle. Due to the facility’s negligence, the elderly woman’s right leg had to be amputated below the […]
Nursing Facility Fined Over $6K for Multiple and Chronic Deficiencies that Placed Residents in Immediate Jeopardy
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) fined the Westgate Nursing Home, a 124-bed facility located in Rochester, New York, $6,338 for numerous deficiencies that placed many residents in immediate jeopardy. Some deficiencies were repeat violations that the facility was cited for during previous inspections. In June 2013, a DOH report revealed that the […]
Nursing Aide Loses Certification License after Pinching Patient’s Breast
Elesia Howard, a former certified nursing assistant (CNA) at the Pathways Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a 112-bed facility located in Niskayuna, New York, pled guilty in September 2012 to charges that she pinched a patient’s left breast nipple. The former employee was convicted of Wilful Violation of Public Health Laws and agreed to surrender her […]
Employees of Medford Multicare Nursing Home Indicted on Charges Related to Patient’s Death
A Suffolk County grand jury handed down a 46 count indictment against six employees of the Medford Multicare Center for Living, a 320-bed nursing facility in Medford, New York. The indictment alleges that the employees neglected a patient who died under their care. It also charges at least six employees with abuse, falsifying business records, […]
Police Issue Silver Alert after Mentally Disabled Nursing Home Resident Wanders from Facility
The Suffolk County Police Department issued a Silver Alert in May 2014 after a deaf and mentally disabled man wandered from the Maple Rest Home, an assisted living facility in West Sayville, New York. As a result of the alert, police officials were able to locate Peter Fallon, 73, and return him uninjured to the […]
Investigators: New York Nursing Facility Failed to Provide Adequate Treatment to Prevent Bedsores
According to a New York State Department of Health inspection conducted in December 2013, the Avon Nursing Home in Avon, New York, failed to provide adequate care to prevent a patient from developing stage II bedsores. The inspection report cited that the facility did not perform routine skin assessments and that staff members failed to […]
Video Camera Captures Two Nurse Aides Taunting and Abusing Elderly Dementia Patient
Two certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at the Barnwell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a 228-bed facility located in Valatie, New York, were caught on camera taunting and abusing an elderly dementia patient in August 2013. According to a New York State Department of Health investigation report, the two CNAs kicked, hit and yanked at dolls that […]
Nursing Home Resident Dies after Staff Member Fails to Administer CPR
An inspection report in July 2013 by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) revealed that a resident of Hornell Gardens, a 114-bed nursing facility located in Hornell, New York, died after a licensed practical nurse (LPN) failed to administer CPR after the resident was found without a pulse and was “gasping for air.” […]
DOH Officials: Nursing Home Failed to Take Appropriate Action against Employee who Allegedly Stole Patients’ Medications
In November 2013, the NYS DOH cited Rosewood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, an 80-bed nursing home located in Rensselaer, New York, for failing to take appropriate actions against a licensed practical nurse who may have diverted narcotics from patients for her own personal use. The investigation concluded that the problem was “widespread” and place residents […]
Long Island Nursing Home Receives Numerous Citations for Failing to Identify Patients with Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders
Per a recent New York State Department of Health (DOH) survey, Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation & Health Center, a 353-bed Smithtown, Long Island nursing home facility, failed to have a proper system in place to quickly determine if a patient had a Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) in place. The DOH stated that the situation was widespread and placed […]
Report: Financial Exploitation of Elderly Costs $2.9 Billion Annually
The results of a 2011 report, a collaboration of numerous agencies, show that financial exploitation of the elderly resulted in $2.9 billion in losses to victims in 2010. Moreover, the study, titled, “The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation against America’s Elders,” further concluded that losses from financial abuse […]
Highpointe on Michigan Health Care Facility Received 67 Percent More Citations than Most NY Nursing Homes
According to the New York State Health Department’s website, the Highpointe on Michigan Health Care Facility, a 300-bed nursing home in Buffalo, New York, received 67 percent more citations than other state nursing homes. From April 2010 through March 2014, the Department of Health (DOH) received 119 complaints about the facility. On average, the state […]
Hidden Camera Investigation Leads to 17 Arrests of Nursing Home Employees Charged with Neglecting Patient
Seventeen employees of the Highpointe on Michigan Health Care Facility in Buffalo, New York were arrested and charged in April 2014 with neglecting a 56-year-old resident under their care. The male patient suffers from Huntington chorea, a neurological disease that makes him bedridden and totally dependent on staff members for his care. The eight nurses […]
Aide Faces Possible Prison Time after Being Charged with Injuring Quadriplegic Nursing Home Resident
Jolly Stewart, 55, a former certified nurse’s aide at the now-closed John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Suffolk County, New York, was arrested and charged in April 2014 for injuring a 57-year-old quadriplegic patient under her care. Appearing before a judge in Suffolk County District Court, Stewart, a Middle Island resident, was charged with […]
Former Nursing Home Employee Admits He Withheld Medication from Blind Alzheimer’s Patient
David Kaproth, 47, of Poughkeepsie, New York, admitted before a judge in April 2014 that he knowingly withheld medication from a 73-year-old blind patient suffering from Alzheimer’s while employed as a licensed practical nurse at he Wingate Dutchess nursing facility in Fishkill, New York. Appearing before Fishkill Town Court Justice Robert Rahemba, Klaproth, who was […]
Investigators: Rochester Home Health Agency Fraudulently Billed Medicaid for $2.5 Million
The New York State Attorney General’s office and Home Health Care of Rochester (HCR), which employs 600 people, reached a $2.5 million settlement in January 2014 after investigators from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) discovered that the healthcare agency fraudulently billed Medicaid over a period of four years. As part of the settlement, HCR […]
AG: Hidden Camera Investigation Led to the Arrest of 10 Nursing Home Employees Charged with Neglecting Double-Amputee
Ten employees of the Blossom North Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rochester, New York were arrested in March 2014 for allegedly failing to provide adequate care to an elderly resident who was a double-amputee. According to the New York Attorney General’s office, six nurses and four nursing assistants faced a variety of charges, including Falsifying […]
Former Manager of Home for the Disabled Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $1K from Residents
Samantha Cross, 31, a former assistant manager at Schoharie ARC, a New York home for the disabled, admitted in March 2014 to stealing $1,503 from the residents’ personal allowance funds. Cross, who appeared before Schoharie Town Court Justice Kenneth Knutsen, pled guilty to one count of falsifying business records, a misdemeanor. In addition, Cross admitted […]
Westchester Aide Faces 15 Years in Prison for Death of 86-Year-Old Disabled Nursing Home Patient
Fifty-four year old Maureen Flowers, a certified nurse aide at the Tarrytown Hall Care Center in Westchester, was arrested in July 2013 for allegedly causing the 2012 death of an 86-year-old disabled patient under her care. Flowers, charged with Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide, faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted. On February […]
Schnurmacher Center Cited for Failure to Prevent Pressure Sores
Schnurmacher Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, located in White Plains, was the subject of a Department of Health Certification Survey in July of 2012 for several deficiencies. Among the failurles reported by the DOH was a failure to properly prevent and treat pressure ulcers. The female resident described in the report suffers from high blood […]
Westchester Nursing Home Fails to Prevent Wandering
Westchester Meadows, a nursing home based in Valhalla, NY, drew a deficient rating from the Department of Health in a certification survey dated June of last year. The Department found that the facility failed to keep the resident environment as free of accident hazards as possible. Specifically, the report notes that Westchester Meadows failed to […]
Spring Creek Rehab Receives Citation For Failing to Treat Bedsores
Brooklyn nursing home Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center made news in September of last year when the Department of Health cited it for failure to prevent and/or heal bedsores (sometimes called pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers). The finding involved one resident, with the DOH noting that the failure created the potential […]
Resident Chokes to Death at Morris Park Nursing Home in the Bronx
A Bronx long-term-care facility, Morris Park Nursing Home, was recently cited and fined $10,000.00 by the New York State Department of Health. The citation and fine are the result of an incident where a 68 year-old resident choked to death during dinner. Under state and federal law, nursing homes must ensure that the resident environment […]
Brooklyn (NYC) Nursing Home Deficient in Two Areas of Medicine Distribution
Sea-Crest Health Care Center, a Brooklyn based nursing home, was cited by the Department of Health in March of this year for two areas of deficiency. Both of these areas of sub-standard care involved medicinal distribution. More specifically, the facility failed to provide drugs and biologicals, and failed to keep residents free from significant medical […]
New York Elder Law Attorney Report: Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Successfully Prosecutes Bronx CNA
In April of this year, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) prosecuted Vicky Williams, a CNA who had been employed at Beth Abraham Health Services Facility, for falsifying records of a resident at the home. The resident in question was at risk for wandering and elopement, and in fact did elope from the facility early […]
Department of Health Comparative Study: Queens (NYC) Nursing Home Residents with Bedsores (Pressure Ulcers)
From time to time the Department of Health issues quality comparisons for nursing homes in specific areas of care. One such area is percent of residents at high risk for pressure sores who have pressure sores. This particular survey was conducted in Queens between January and September of 2010. For the time period in question, […]
Brooklyn Nursing Home Cited for Failure to Deliver Mail in a Timely Manner
In a report released April 27, 2012, the Department of Health released its deficiency report for Brooklyn United Methodist Church Home. Amongst several failures in the area of disaster preparedness, the report details that the facility failed to promptly deliver mail to its residents. This right is manifested in the Code of Federal Regulations, 483.10(i)(1). […]
Smithtown Nursing Home Cited for Deficiencies by NYS Department of Health
Saint Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Center, located in Smithtown, NY, was cited for deficiencies in a Department of Health survey dated February 12, 2012. Two areas in particular for which the facility received substandard ratings involved medication errors and maintenance. According to federal regulations, a facility must ensure that it maintains a […]
Government Report Documents Under-Reporting of Hospital Errors
A study recently released by the Department of Health and Human Services reports that as few as one out of seven Medicare patients harmed by medical errors and accidents during hospitalizations are reported. The study, performed by HHS inspector general Daniel R. Levinson, claims that the primary cause of the under-reporting is that many hospital […]
N.Y. Nursing Home Fall Attorney Report: Rockland Nursing Home Cited in May Deficiency Report
Northern Riverview Health Care Center in Haverstraw, NY was cited in a Department of Health Deficiency Survey dated May 11, 2011. The DOH cited the facility for numerous violations, including failing to ensure that the facility was free of accident hazards, and failure to develop and implement written policies and procedures that prohibit mistreatment and/or […]
Medicare Fraud Crackdown Leads to Charges Across US
A key facet to President Obama’s health care reform initiative has been eliminating health care fraud throughout the United States. Yesterday, charges were announced against 91 individuals, accusing them of fraudulently obtaining approximately $300 million from the Medicare system. One of the most shocking indictments involves a doctor billing Medicare for services provided to the […]
Risk of Dementia Possibly Lessened by Aerobics
A recent study by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN suggests that increased aerobic activity may be a deterrent to dementia later in life. Additionally, such exercise may serve to impede the development of dementia once it starts. The researchers who conducted the study define exercise as “enough aerobic physical activity to raise the heart […]
Rockland County Nursing Home Fined $24,000 For Various Violations
Northern Riverview Health Care Center, Inc. in Rockland County, NY was fined $24,000 as a result of a Department of Health Certification Survey dated April 8, 2010. The survey noted no less than 14 deficiencies that contributed to the substantial fine. Among the shortcomings noted by the surveyors were failures with respect to comprehensive care […]
Westchester Nursing Home, Owner, Plead Guilty to Stealing $400,000 in Medicaid Funding by Inadequately Caring for Residents
Ossining-based nursing home Chandler Care Center and its owner, Samuel Klein, plead guilty in September 2002 to stealing $400,000 in Medicaid funding and failing to employ sufficient staff to provide appropriate care for its residents. The facility shut down in July 2001 after a Department of Health (DOH) inspection revealed that the facility, lacking air […]
Grandell Rehabilitation Fined For Failing To Provide Adequate Supervision To Resident Known To Have Suicidal Ideations
Grandell Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Long Beach, NY was recently fined $32,207.50 by the Federal government stemming from a January 26, 2010 NYS Department of Health Complaint Survey. Surveyors found that the facility failed to provide medically related social services to attain the highest practicable, physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of each resident. Tragically, […]
Families Of Elder Abuse Victims Using Technology To Spread Awareness
The families of elder abuse victims are using social networking sites, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, to gain support for reform in long-term care facilities. The group, which was founded by family member’s personally affected by alleged abuse in a Minnesota nursing home, can be found by conducting a search for “Families Against Nursing Home Abuse” […]
Nursing Home Staff Abuses Residents By Taking Inappropriate Photos
A Nursing Home in Lexington was recently cited by the state of Kentucky when members of its staff used personal cell phones to “inappropriately photograph and make audio recordings” of residents without their knowledge. The staff members then attached songs with sexual lyrics to the photographs and circulated them to other employees at the facility. […]