(914) 220-1086Presbyterian Home for Central New York suffered 15 fatalities from Covid-19 as of July 12, 2020, per state records. The nursing home also received 37 citations finding it violated public health code between 2016 and 2020, according to health records accessed on July 13, 2020; two such citations found deficiencies in the facility’s infection control practices. The facility has also received fines totaling $14,000 after findings that it violated health code provisions, such as those concerning quality of care and resident rights. The New Hartford nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of seven surveys by state inspectors. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not adequately implement infection control measures. Section 483.80 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to establish procedures designed to ensure resident safety and comfort by preventing and controlling infection. A June 2019 citation found that Presbyterian Home for Central New York did not ensure such. The citation sates specifically that resident staff did not perform proper hand hygiene between residents during a medication pass, and that a glucometer “was not sanitized between resident use.” The citation goes on to state that a Licensed Practical Nurse did not perform hand hygiene before or after completing bedside glucose testing for a resident, and did not complete hand hygiene during the preparation and administration of a resident’s insulin. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the re-education of the nurse on proper hand-washing technique.
2. A December 2017 citations also found Presbyterian Home for Central New York did not adequately implement infection control procedures. The citation states specifically that the nursing home “did not maintain infection control protocol while providing care” for a resident on contact precautions. It goes on to state that in contravention of facility policy, a Licensed Practical Nurse entered the resident’s room without donning a gown. The citation notes that the resident’s condition “was very infectious and could be spread if not gowning.” In an interview, the facility’s Director of Nursing stated that staff were expected to wear a gown when entering the room of a resident on contact precautions.
3. The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from neglect. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing home must ensure each resident’s right to freedom from abuse and neglect. An August 2019 citation found that Presbyterian Home for Central New York did not ensure such. The citation specifically describes a resident who was sent to a hospital “severe abdominal pain, absence of bowel sounds, and was diagnosed with” a bowel perforation from which they subsequently died. The citation goes to describe the staff’s administration of medication to the resident and flushing of the resident’s feeding tube, whose rupture caused the bowel perforation, according to an interview with the pathologist who conducted the resident’s autopsy.A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the revision of its J-Tube policy.
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.
