A deficiency report published by the Department of Health on April 25, 2011 reveals that Elant at Newburgh, located in Orange County, NY, continues to violate patients’ rights with respect to its nursing home residents. The latest findings by the DOH range in scope from isolated incidents to patterns of abuse, and most have been labeled as having the potential for more than minimal harm.
This blog has documented health code violations arising from Elant at Newburgh in the past, including failure to prevent bedsores and failure to properly staff the facility, both of which are again included in the current survey. This latest report from the DOH adds several new violations of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
- 483.25(l): Each resident’s drug regimen must be free from unnecessary drugs. A resident was given additional pain medication to cope with leg pain. Although the resident stated that the medication was ineffective in reducing the amount of pain she was feeling, the pain medication was not monitored consistently, nor was documentation made of the medication’s ineffectiveness.
- 483.65: Facility establishes infection control program. A catheterized resident with a history of urinary sepsis did not receive proper treatment of the catheter. As a result, the resident developed a urinary tract infection.
- 483.25(h): Facility is free from accident hazards. A resident, although noted to be monitored for aspiration was allowed to eat a meal unsupervised in her room. Although, by all accounts the Certified Nursing Assistants were aware of the resident’s condition, the resident was not required on this occasion to eat in the dining hall, as had been prescribed. A resident such as this is a choking risk. Allowing her to eat alone in her room could have proven fatal. Thankfully in this case, it did not.
The DOH survey documents further violations, too numerous to list exhaustively here. As has been noted in this blog, this section of the CFR is in place to ensure the safety and dignity of residents of long term care facilities. Violations of these statutes fly in the face of not only common sense, but also federal regulations ratified for the residents’ protection. Perhaps soon, facilities such as Elant will recognize this and adhere to the rights that they guarantee, under law, to their long-term residents.
