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Pontiac Nursing Home has received 37 citations for violations of public health code between 2017 and 2021, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on April 30, 2021. The facility has additionally received three fines totaling $46,000 since 2013. The Oswego nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of six surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from abuse. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must ensure each resident’s right to freedom from abuse. An October 2019 citation found that Pontiac Nursing Home failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that when the facility admitted a resident “with known sexual predator status,” it failed to establish and maintain protocols to prevent the resident from sexually abusing others in the facility. As a result, the resident abused three other residents who were unable to consent. The citation states that these failures resulted in “actual harm.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education and counseling of relevant staff.
2. The nursing home did not take adequate steps to prevent infection. Under Section 483.80 of the Federal Code, nursing homes are required to establish and maintain infection prevention and control protocols. A June 2020 citation found that Pontiac Nursing Home failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that a Certified Nurse Aide and a unit clerk at the facility “were observed not wearing face masks appropriately” while within six feet of three residents, and that a Certified Nurse Aide used care equipment in four resident’s rooms “without cleaning the equipment between residents.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the re-education of relevant staff.
3. The nursing home did not take adequate steps to prevent accidents. Under Section 483.25 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must ensure that resident environments are kept “as free of accident hazards as is possible” and that residents are provided with adequate supervision to prevent them from sustaining accidents. An April 2019 citation found that Pontiac Nursing Home failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that the nursing home failed to provide adequate supervision for two residents after they sustained falls. As it describes further, proper assessments were not taken after the residents fell, including the taking of incident reports and the performance of neurological checks. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility states that these deficiencies 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.
