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Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care Center received 25 citations for violations of public health code between 2018 and 2022, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on September 16, 2022. The Bronx nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of six surveys by state inspectors. The violations they describe include the following:
- The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from abuse. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code guarantees nursing home residents the right to freedom from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. An October 2021 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which an employee saw a nursing assistant grab a resident by the arms and throw them against the wall in the facility’s dining area. The citation states further that the resident was later “observed with discoloration to the upper left arm and lateral right thigh with lump.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of nursing staff on the facility’s abuse policies.
- The nursing home did not adequately prevent accidents. Under Section 483.12 of the Federal Code, nursing home residents have the right to an environment as free as possible of accident hazards, and with adequate supervision to prevent accidents. An October 2021 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes a resident with a history of falls who “had no new interventions to prevent additional falls,” and who indeed suffered another fall, sustaining an injury; a second resident for whom the facility also did not implement new interventions to address a history of falls, who subsequently suffered a fall with injury; and a third resident who had suffered multiple falls, for whom the facility failed to implement new interventions. The citation states that as of November 2021, the facility either was not required to implement a plan of correction or its plan of correction had not been approved.
- The nursing home did not undertake adequate steps to prevent infection. Under Section 483.80 of the Federal Code, nursing home facilities must create and maintain an infection prevention and control program to mitigate the spread of communicable diseases. A September 2021 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which a Licensed Practical Nurse failed to perform proper hand hygiene during medication administration, and who additionally failed to clean and disinfect a blood pressure cuff between residents. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of the LPN regarding proper hand hygiene and equipment cleaning procedures.
Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care Center received 10 citations for violations of public health code between 2017 and 2021, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on September 3, 2021. The Bronx nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of three surveys by state inspectors. The violations they describe include the following:
- The nursing home did not implement adequate measures to control infection. Section 483.30 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must create and maintain an infection prevention and control program to prevent the development and spread of viruses and disease. An August 2017 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care Center failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes a Licensed Practical Nurse who “did not remove gloves, perform hand hygiene and don’t clean gloves” after cleansing a resident’s pressure ulcer. In an interview after the procedure, the nurse stated, “I thought I was washing my hands as needed in regard to washing my hands and changing my gloves.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the re-education of the staffer and the observation of other nursing staffers “to ensure that they were following appropriate wound care techniques.”
- The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from unnecessary medication use. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing home residents have the right to be free from the use of psychotropic drugs that are not necessary to treat a specific, diagnosed, documented condition. A March 2019 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care Center failed to ensure such. The citation specifically described a number of residents on medication for a redacted condition even though they had no prior history of the condition and “there were no proper documentation on how the facility monitor behavioral symptoms.” The citation describes a “pattern” of deficiencies that had the “Potential to cause more than minimal harm.” It does not describe any plan of correction undertaken by the facility.
- The nursing home did not adequately conduct fire drills. Section 101 of the Life Safety Code stipulates that nursing homes must conduct fire drills “at expected and unexpected times under varying conditions.” A March 2019 citation found that Rebekah Rehab and Extended Care Center failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that the facility did not ensure its fire drills “were conducted under varying dates.” The facility’s Administrator and Director stated that moving forward, fire drills will be varied by time and by month. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the development of a tool “to ensure that fire drills are conducted monthly throughout different periods of the month.”
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.
