The Pines at Poughkeepsie Cited for Infection Issues

The Pines at Poughkeepsie Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation received 16 citations for violations of public health code between 2018 and 2022, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on June 3, 2022. The Poughkeepsie nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of two inspections by state surveyors. The violations they describe include the following:

1. The nursing home did not undertake proper measures to prevent and control infection. Under Section 483.80 of the Federal Code, nursing homes “must establish and maintain an infection prevention and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary and comfortable environment and to help prevent the development and transmission of communicable diseases and infections.” A December 2021 citation found that The Pines at Poughkeepsie failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that facility staff failed to follow infection control protocols for a resident “observed crawling on the dining room floor on his hand and knees and reaching down to touch the floor from his wheelchair.” When staff helped the resident back to their wheelchair, according to the citation, staff did not provided them with hand hygiene, and additionally failed to provide them with hand hygiene before their lunch meal. In an interview, the facility’s Director of Nursing said that “the resident should have had hand hygiene performed immediately after the resident was helped back to the chair after crawling on the floor and before his/her meal.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the re-education of relevant staff on hand hygiene policy.

2. The nursing home did not adequately protect residents from the unnecessary use of psychotropic medications. Section 483.45 of the Federal Code stipulates that “Residents who have not used psychotropic drugs are not given these drugs unless the medication is necessary to treat a specific condition as diagnosed and documented in the clinical record,” and that residents who do use them receive gradual dose in an attempt to discontinue their use. A December 2018 citation found that The Pines at Poughkeepsie failed to ensure such. The citation states specifically that “there was no documented justification” for one resident’s use of an anti-psychotic medication. The citation describes documentations of wandering behavior by the resident, as well as the facility’s Medical Director’s statement that “antipsychotic medications are not recommended for wandering as these medications are not effective.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the in-servicing of nursing staff.

3. The nursing home did not follow food safety standards. Under Section 483.60 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must ensure the storage, preparation, distribution, and service of food “in accordance with professional standards for food service safety.” A December 2018 citation found that The Pines at Poughkeepsie failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes the lack of complete cooling logs for certain foods and multiple nourishment unit refrigerators that “contained foods and commercial supplements that were either unlabeled, undated, or expired or were not stored according to manufacturers’ recommendation.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the discarding of leftover items and the development of a cooling log.

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.