Manhattanville Health Care Center received 21 citations for violations of public health laws between 2015 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on November 14, 2019. The Bronx nursing home also received Federal Civil Money Penalties of $19,505 and $12,678.25 for citations found on a May 9, 2018 survey and a May 14, 2018 survey, respectively, according to the Long Term Care Community Coalition. Federal Civil Money Penalties are one of several mechanisms state and federal authorities are empowered to enforce when nursing home facilities are found to fall short of minimum health and safety standards. Manhattanville Health Care Center’s 21 citations result from six inspections by state inspectors. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home failed to ensure it adequately administrated itself in a manner that provided for the highest possible resident well being. Section 483.70 of the Federal Code requires nursing home facilities to administer themselves in a fashion that enables the most effective and efficient use of their resources “to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.” A May 14, 2018 inspection found that Manhattanville Care Center failed to operate itself in a manner that timely provided basic life support to a resident who needed emergency care. An inspector observed a resident “unresponsive and not breathing.” A redacted number of minutes passed before staff administered CPR, and “approximately 5 minutes [passed] before 911 was activated.” The inspection found that this lapse “resulted in actual harm and the potential for serious harm to the health and safety of all residents in the facility.”
2. The nursing home failed to provide basic life support to a resident who required it. Section 483.24 of the Federal Code states that nursing home personnel must “provide basic life support, including CPR, to a resident requiring such emergency care prior to the arrival of emergency medical personnel and subject to related physician orders and the resident’s advance directives.” A May 14, 2018 survey found that the facility failed to initiate CPR for one of 20 residents sampled, who was unresponsive with “Full Code status” and “no Advance Directive in place.” Specifically, the resident was “observed unresponsive” after returning from a medical appointment, and facility staff responded to the resident’s status “without any emergency equipment” and allowed a redacted amount of time to pass before initiating CPR. The resident was soon transported by the facility by ambulance, provided “Advanced Life Support interventions,” and ultimately “pronounced dead in Emergency Department.” A state health inspector found that this lapse resulted in “immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety.”
3. The nursing home failed to provide provide treatment and services adequate to prevent and heal pressure ulcers and bedsores. Section 483.25(c) of the Federal Code requires that nursing home facilities ensure that residents who enter without pressure sores do not develop them unless their condition renders it unavoidable; and that residents with pressure sores receive adequate treatment and services to prevent them. A November 20, 2018 inspection found that one of three residents reviewed was observed sleeping without heel lifts or heel booties on his feet. The resident’s care plan described the resident’s “potential for alteration in skin integrity as a result of having a history of [pressure ulcers] on their bilateral heels.” As a result, a physician had ordered that the resident have bilateral heel lifts when in their bed. A state inspector found that there was no formalized system for performing spot-checks on the use of pressure-relieving devices, and that the lapse had “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.
