(914) 220-1086The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Rome suffered 8 coronavirus deaths as of May 17, 2020, per state records. The nursing home also received 36 citations for violations of public health code between 2016 and 2020, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on May 18, 2020. The facility has additionally received one enforcement action: a 2019 fine of $10,000 in connection to findings in a 2019 inspection that it violated unspecified health code provisions. The Rome nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of seven surveys by state inspectors. The deficiencies they describe include three alleged violations of Section 483.80 of the Federal Code, which requires nursing homes to maintain an infection prevention and control program that helps mitigate the development and transmission of communicable diseases and infections. Those three citations include:
1. A January 2020 citation states that an inspector observed that a resident’s IV access had no cap placed on its port, and that staff were touching the end of the access with ungloved hands. The inspector also observed a treatment in which a resident “did not have a barrier placed between bare feet and the floor and clean supplies and a soiled dressing were placed on the resident’s bed.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the reeducation of relevant staff members on proper infection control technique, including the capping of IV tubing and the need for a barrier between residents’ feet and the bare floor during treatment.
2. A September 2018 citation found that The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Rome failed to adequately uphold infection control measures during medication administration for several residents. An inspector specifically observed a staff members fail to perform proper hand hygiene while administering medication and treating a resident’s wound dressing; the inspector also observed a resident “three times with his urinary catheter bag on the floor in his room,” in contravention of best practices and facility policy.
3. A May 2017 citation found that facility staffers failed to uphold proper infection control techniques during a treatment observation for one resident or during a medication pass observation for another resident. The citation also states that a resident’s scabies symptoms were not promptly reported to state authorities, and that the nursing home “not properly implement an effective infection control program to assess and treat residents and staff” once scabies symptoms were discovered. With respect to the treatment observation, the citation states that a nurse did not properly disinfect equipment, removed equipment from her pocket in contravention of policy, and failed to properly perform hand hygiene during the observation. With respect to the medication pass, the citation states that a nurse did not perform proper hand hygiene before or after administering residents’ medications.
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.
