Oxford 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 January 21, 2020. The Brooklyn nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of four surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not ensure residents’ right to freedom from abuse. Under Section 483.12 of the Federal Code, nursing home residents have a right “to be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” A January 2019 citation found that Oxford Nursing Home did not protect a resident from abuse. The citation states specifically that the nursing home’s surveillance camera captured, in July 2018, a resident spitting on a newspaper in the facility’s dining room. A Certified Nursing Assistant then grabbed the resident’s hand and “repeatedly rubbed the resident’s hand into the oral substance that the resident expectorated on the newspaper and table,” according to the citation. In an interview, the CNA in question “admitted to the actions,” and the facility’s Director of Nursing said that the facility had provided its CNAs with “no written instructions” regarding the resident’s behavior of spitting on the table. The citation found this deficiency as having the “potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
2. The nursing home did not adequately maintain residents’ drug regimens free from unnecessary drugs. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code requires nursing home facilities to maintain “each resident’s drug regimen… free from unnecessary drugs.” A May 2016 citation found that the facility did not keep two residents’ regimens free from unnecessary medication. In one instance, a new resident was prescribed anti-psychotic medication even though the resident had “with no prior psychiatric history, documented behaviors or without non pharmacological and/or Psychotherapeutic measures attempted, prior to an increase in medication dosage,” according to the citation. In the other, a resident was prescribed antipsychotic medication even though they had no documented behaviors and the facility had implemented no non-pharmacological measures. The citation states that this deficiency resulted in the “potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
3. The nursing home did not adequately maintain housekeeping and maintenance services. Section 483.15 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing home facilities “must provide housekeeping and maintenance services necessary to maintain a sanitary, orderly, and comfortable interior.” A May 2016 citation found that Oxford Nursing Home did not comply with this section. An inspector specifically observed “light fixtures, windows, window blinds and fans” that were dirty and experiencing disrepair. The citation goes on to describe “heavily streaked and dusty” window pains, wall and window frames “soiled with a black substance,” wall fans covered in lint and other debris, window blinds that were “bent, dusty and layered with lint,” an air conditioner with exposed foam, and more. According to the citation, these deficiencies had the “potential to cause more than minimal harm” to residents.
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.
