(914) 220-1086St. Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Center received 12 citations for violations of public health code between 2016 and 2020, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on April 11, 2020. The Smithtown nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of four surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:
1. 1. The nursing home did not implement adequate measures to mitigate medication errors. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to ensure that “residents are free of any significant medication errors.” A January 2019 citation found that St. Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Center did not ensure such for one resident. The citation states specifically that while the resident’s primary care physician had ordered the resident to receive an anticonvulsant medication twice a day, “the resident did not receive five consecutive doses of the prescribed anticonvulsant medication.” In interviews, facility staffers including the Registered Nurse Supervisor stated that they were not aware the medication in question had been unavailable on multiple days.
2. The nursing home did not employ adequate accident prevention measures. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must ensure that the resident environment “remains as free of accident hazards as is possible.” An October 2019 citation found that St. Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Center did not ensure such. The citation states specifically that the nursing home failed to implement procedures “to keep a knife from being placed” on the tray of a resident who had a restriction against using knives. In an interview, one of the facility’s food service workers stated that “he was not paying attention when he was assembling the trays” and that no other personnel checked the tray in question before “setting the residents up.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the removal of the knife from the resident’s tray and the counseling of the dietary server.
3. The nursing home did not adequately investigate an incident to rule out abuse or neglect. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to thoroughly investigate incidents so as to rule out abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment. An October 2019 citation found that St. Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Center did not ensure such. The citation states specifically that the facility did not investigate a resident’s “injury of unknown origin” within a five day period after the incident. The injury in question constituted a bruise on the resident’s toe, causing the resident to complaint about “slight pain upon movement” while refusing medication. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the completion of an investigation that found no evidence of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment, and the counseling of staff regarding the completion of investigations.
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.
