The Pavilion at Queens received 11 citations for violations of public health laws between 2015 and 2019, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on December 12, 2019. The Flushing nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of four inspections by state authorities. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The facility did not ensure the professional care and services of residents’ pressure ulcers. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to provide residents with “care that is consistent with professional standards of practice” to promote the healing of pressure injuries / ulcers. A May 2018 citation found that The Pavilion at Queens failed to comply with this section in connection to one resident’s care. An inspector specifically found that a nurse employed improper technique when tending to a resident’s wound dressing, using one hand to peel off the dressing instead of two hands, and touching gauze to the mouth of a saline bottle—which the citation states could risk infection transmission—rather than pouring the saline out of the bottle onto the gauze. The citation states that this deficiency had the “Potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
2. The nursing home did not ensure the provision of care and services necessary to help residents attain their highest practicable well-being. Section 483.24 of the Federal Code stipulates that nursing homes must offer each resident with “the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, consistent with the resident’s comprehensive assessment and plan of care.” A January 2016 citation found that the nursing home did not provide such care and services to one resident. It specifically describes the facility’s failure to undertake a medical intervention to address a resident’s hip dislocation when it was revealed in a radiology test. According to the citation, there was no evidence the dislocation was addressed “until the resident was transferred to the hospital… 14 days after the hip location was noted.” In an interview, a doctor said that the transfer took two weeks because “there was nothing much that they could do, except for getting an orthopedic consultation.”
3. The nursing home did not implement adequate measures to prevent smoking hazards. Life Safety Code 101 requires nursing homes to adopt and implement smoking regulations that, among other things, prohibit smoking in any hazardous location, which includes locations where oxygen is used or stored. A May 2018 citation found that The Pavilion did not ensure its residents and/or staff were only smoking “in designated areas with ashtrays of noncombustible material and safe design.” An inspector specifically observed several “cigarette butts… on the concrete floor outside of the lobby area adjacent to the piped-in oxygen tank area.” In an interview, the facility’s Maintenance Director stated his intention to correct this deficiency, which the citation found had the “potential to cause more than minimal harm.”
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.
