The Paramount at Somers: Nursing Home Cited for Accident

The Paramount at Somers Rehabilitation and Nursing Center has received 17 citations for violations of public health code between 2018 and 2022, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on October 16, 2022. The Somers 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 prevent accidents. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must provide residents with adequate supervision and assistant devices to prevent them from sustaining accidents. An August 2021 citation found that The Paramount at Somers failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which a nursing assistant left a lunch tray containing a “hot beverage” in a resident’s room unsupervised. The resident later stated that they spilled the beverage on themself, sustaining a burn on their side and thigh. In an interview, a registered nurse supervisor stated that nursing assistants “are not supposed to leave meal trays in rooms of residents that require assistance with eating for safety reasons.” The facility’s Director of Nursing attested in a separate interview that “Trays should not be left at the bedside due to safety concerns.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of nursing staff.
2. The nursing home did not adequately follow food safety standards. Section 483.60 of the Federal Code states that nursing homes must “Store, prepare, distribute and serve food in accordance with professional standards for food service safety.” An October 2021 citation found that The Paramount at Somers failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which a pair of certified nursing assistants applied butter to two residents’ bread “with their bare hands… resulting in risk of contamination and foodborne illnesses.” The citation goes on to describe facility policy requiring that “employees will not touch food directly with bare hands.” In interviews, the CNAs said that they should have used a fork to hold the bread or worn gloves. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of nursing staff.
3. The nursing home did not maintain sufficient nursing staff. Section 483.35 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must have sufficient nursing staff with the necessary skill sets “to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.” A March 2019 citation found that The Paramount at Somers failed to ensure such. The citation specifically states that the nursing home did not ensure the availability of sufficient nursing staff “on all shifts. It goes on to describe “multiple complaints by residents and nursing staff about lack of sufficient staff” as well as a “delay in providing incontinent care.” In an interview, the facility’s Director of Nursing “stated that there has been a decline in CNAs due to various reasons.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the increase of staffing.
4. The nursing home did not take adequate steps to prevent and control infection. Section 483.80 of the Federal Code states that nursing homes must establish and implement “an infection prevention and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary and comfortable environment” for residents. A February 2019 citation found that The Paramount at Somers failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which the facility failed to ensure “that proper hand hygiene to prevent cross contamination and the spread of infection was followed during a lunch meal observation” in one resident. It goes on to describe one nursing staffer who was observed picking a piece of paper off the floor and then feeding a resident without washing her hands first; another nursing staffer who touched one resident while feeding another resident without washing her hands. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the re-education of staff on the facility’s hand hygiene policy.
5. The nursing home did not abide by food safety standards. Section 483.35 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must “store, prepare, distribute and serve food under sanitary conditions.” A February 2019 citation found that The Paramount at Somers failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes an instance in which two Certified Nursing Assistants were observed using their bare hands to apply butter to two residents’ bread during breakfast. In an interview, the CNAs stated that they should have held the bread down using a fork or alternatively worn gloves. The facility’s Assistant Director of Nursing said in a separate interview that “staff assisting the residents should not touch the residents’ bread with their bare hands.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the education of nursing staff on safe food handling and infection control.

The Paramount at Somers received 28 citations for violations of public health laws between 2015 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on December 7, 2019. The facility was also the subject of a 2012 fine of $14,000 in connection to alleged violations of New York Code sections concerning nursing home residents’ right to be notified of their rights, rules, services, and charges; administrative practices and procedures; and nursing home facility medical directors. The Somers nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of six inspections by state surveyors. The deficiencies they describe include the following:

1. The facility did not ensure residents were provided with an environment free of accident hazards. Under Section 483.25 of the Federal Code, nursing home facilities are required to maintain an environment as free as possible from accident hazards, with adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent residents from sustaining accidents. An October 2018 citation found The Paramount did not provide frequent room checks and supervision of a resident who “had numerous falls in her room without injury.” The citation states that the resident’s care plan included frequent room checks as an intervention method to prevent falls, but such checks were not implemented, and the facility “did not determine if frequent checks were conducted or a potential contributory factor to the accident.”
2. The nursing home did not provide services that met professional quality standards. Section 483.20 of the Federal Code states that nursing home facilities must provide or arrange services that “meet professional standards of quality.” A March 2016 citation found that The Paramount failed in this capacity in connection to one resident. The citation states specifically that a physician did not follow up on blood work orders, “which he ordered 5 times before the resident’s death,” and that an attending physician had not been informed by staff about “the resident’s poor fluid intake or the critical blood results.”

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.