Crown Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center received 37 citations for violations of New York and federal public health law between 2015 and 2019, according to records provided by the New York Department of Health and accessed on November 2, 2019. Over the course of five inspections by health authorities, the Cortland, New York nursing home received five more citations than the statewide average of 32. It also received five enforcement actions resulting in fines between 2012 until 2018. According to the Long Term Care Community Coalition, Crown Park is a “one-star nursing home,” a term that indicates it “shows evidence of significantly poor levels of care.” The nursing home’s violations found by the Department of Health include the following:
1.The nursing home failed to ensure residents were free from abuse and neglect. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code provides nursing home residents with “the right to be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” A January 17, 2018 citation found, however, that the nursing home did not ensure that ten of eleven sampled residents were provided with “adequate supervision to prevent abuse.” The citation states that these residents were involved in multiple altercations with each other, and that the facility’s failure to ensure each resident’s safety resulted in the continuation of these altercations. These altercations reportedly resulted in injuries: one resident received a bruise, while another sustained a laceration and bled visibly. Although the facility’s protocol provided for a system of safety rounds to ensure its residents’ safety, “there was no documented evidence” that such a program was operated as defined. A stipulation and order dated September 18, 2018, states that alleged violations uncovered during the January 17 inspection resulted in the Department of Health’s levying of a $2,000 fine against Crown Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
2. The nursing home did not take adequate steps to prevent and control infection. Section 483.80 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to “establish and maintain an infection prevention and control program” that is designed in such a manner that it creates a “safe, sanitary and comfortable environment” that staves off the development and transmission of diseases and infections. An October 2018 citation found that Crown Park Rehabilitation and Nursing did not ensure staff maintained such a program with respect to one of four residents reviewed for respiratory care. An inspector specifically found that a nurse failed to “perform hand hygiene after removing gloves multiple times” while providing care for that resident, who needed limited assistance from one staff member for personal hygiene, as well as “extensive assistance” of one to two staff members for matters including bed mobility and toileting. According to the citation, the nurse was observed changing gloves multiple times while providing the resident with care, but “did not perform hand hygiene between any of the glove changes.”
3. The facility did not properly perform criminal background checks on all its staff. Section 402.6 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must “ensure the submission of a request for a criminal history record check for each prospective employee,” including by submitting fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation when necessary. A 2018 citation found that Crown Park Rehabilitation and Nursing failed to ensure that two of its five new employees had their fingerprints submitted for background checks in a timely manner.
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.
