Forest Hills Care Center received 18 citations for violations of public health laws between 2015 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on December 19, 2019. The facility was also the subject of a 2018 fine of $12,000 in connection to unspecified findings in a December 2017 survey. The Forest Hills nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of three inspections by state authorities. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not take adequate measures to protect residents from neglect. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to protect residents from “abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” A December 2017 citation found that Forest Hills Care Center did not ensure a resident’s right to freedom from neglect. The citation specifically found that a Certified Nursing Assistant “willfully neglected to implement” a resident’s Comprehensive Care Plan requirement for the resident to be transferred from their bed to their wheel chair by two persons and the use of a Hoyer Lift. As a result of this failure, the resident fell while being transferred and sustained an injury to their hip.
2. The nursing home did not provide residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code states that nursing home residents have a right to supervision and assistive devices to prevent them from sustaining accidents. A December 2017 citation found that the resident did not provide adequate supervision and assistance to the resident whose Comprehensive Care Plan called for two persons and a Hoyer Lift during bed-to-wheelchair transfers. According to the citation, the facility’s staff “not provide adequate supervision” to the resident, who had been “assessed at high risk for falls” and had sustained “seven falls over a 4 month period.” The citation states that the facility’s staff did not provide adequate interventions or monitoring to prevent the resident, “who attempted to transfer several times without assistance,” from falling.
3. The nursing home did not ensure resident drug regimens included no unnecessary drugs. Under Section 483.45 of the Federal Code, nursing homes are required to keep “each resident’s drug regimen… free from unnecessary drugs.” A September 2016 citation found that the nursing home failed to do so in an instance in which “there was a duplication in the transmittal of a resident’s lab result,” resulting in a doctor ordering, and the resident receiving, “an unnecessary increase” in the dosage of one of their medications. The citation states that this deficiency had the “potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
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.
