Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home received 22 citations for violations of public health code between 2016 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on February 7, 2020. The facility has also been the subject of a 2015 fine of $6,000 in connection to findings during a 2013 inspection that it violated unspecified health code provisions. The Manhattan nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of three surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not ensure residents received services that met quality standards. Under Section 483.21 of the Federal Code, nursing home facilities must provide or arrange services for their residents that “meet professional standards of quality.” A November 2018 citation found that Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home’s services did not meet professional standards. An inspector found specifically that the facility’s nursing staff did not clarify a physician’s orders in connection to a resident with “severe cognitive impairments” who needed “extensive assistance of staff to complete her activities of daily living.” The specific physician orders in question are redacted from the citation, but they pertain to the resident’s insulin coverage and blood sugar levels. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included an audit concerning blood stick monitoring of residents. The citation states that this deficiency had the “potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
2. The nursing home did not ensure that drugs and biologicals were properly stored and labeled. Section 483.60 of the Federal Code requires in part that nursing homes label drugs and biologicals “in accordance with currently accepted professional principles, and include the appropriate accessory and cautionary instructions, and the expiration date.” A January 2016 citation found that medication at Mary Manning Nursing Home was not properly dated, and that an open vial of insulin was not discarded 28 days after it was opened. In an interview, the facility’s Registered Nurse Supervisor told an inspector, “I investigated this issue with the evening nurses and was told that a new vial was opened and placed in the refrigerator.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of staff and the disposal of the items in question.
3. The nursing home did not ensure that hazardous areas were properly enclosed. Under Section 101 of the Life Safety Code, nursing homes must protect hazardous areas with self-closing or automatic-closing doors. An April 2017 citation found that Mary Manning Nursing Home did not ensure that “doors protecting hazardous areas were made self-closing.” The citation notes specifically that a wheelchair storage room and medical record office on the facility’s sixth floor did not have self-closing devices A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the installation of self-closing devices.
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.
