Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation has received 56 citations for violations of public health code between 2018 and 2021, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on February 4, 2022. The facility has also received three fines totaling $24,000 since 2015. The Woodbury nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of 14 surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not adequately prevent accidents. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must ensure resident environments are “as free of accident hazards as is possible.” A May 2021 citation found that Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which a resident, identified as at risk of elopement and wearing a wander guard device, used an elevator to reach the facility’s lobby without the wander guard activating the elevator door. After this incident, the citation states, a registered nurse supervisor “did not report the elevator door malfunction,” and a few months later the resident again reached the facility lobby via the elevator. In a second instance described by the facility, a resident’s wheelchair had a “broken removable right arm rest” identified by staff but not addressed until several days after its identification. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of relevant staff.
2. The nursing home did not adequately prevent the use of unnecessary drugs. Under Section 483.45 of the Federal Code, residents have a right to be free from the unnecessary use of psychotropic medications. A May 2021 citation found that Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes a resident prescribed an antipsychotic medication whose dosage was doubled “without documented evidence of the justification for the increase.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included a dose reduction and counseling of the nurse who wrote the order for an increased dosage.
3. The nursing home did not adequately prevent medication errors. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code ensures nursing home residents the right to be “free of any significant medication errors.” An October 2019 citation found that Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that one resident experienced medication errors in a case in which “there was no documented evidence that the resident received” certain medications they were prescribed, and “no evidence documenting the physician was informed of the unavailability of the medications.” In an interview, the facility’s Director of Nursing Services said that “the medication was not available, either because it was entered in the system too late to receive from the pharmacy or the medication was not available in the emergency supply.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the counseling of relevant staff.
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.
