(914) 220-1086Waterview Nursing Care Center received 22 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 facility was also the subject of a 2010 fine of $4,000 in connection to findings it failed to comply with health code provision concerning accidents and administrative practices. 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 nursing home did not employ adequate measures to protect residents from abuse. Under Section 483.12 of the Federal Code, nursing home residents have the right to be free from abuse and neglect. A May 2019 citation found that Waterview Nursing Care Center failed to prevent residents from abuse in an instance in which one resident hit another resident with his wheelchair’s footrest. According to the citation, the resident who was hit “suffered a laceration and bleeding to his head,” and was subsequently transferred to a local hospital for care. The resident received four staples on his head before returning to the facility. A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the transfer of the aggressor to another unit and his placement on regular visual checks.
2. The nursing home did not ensure its residents’ drug regimens were free from unnecessary medications. Under Section 483.45 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must maintain “each resident’s drug regimen… free from unnecessary drugs.” According to a November 2016 citation, Waterview Nursing Care Center did not ensure one resident’s drug regimen was free of unnecessary medications. An inspector specifically found that the resident was administered an antipsychotic medication even tough the facility did not have “documented evidence of non- pharmacological interventions being attempted prior to [the medications] administration.” In an interview, the facility’s psychiatrist said that the medication should not have been administered without documented evidence of such.
3. The nursing home did not employ adequate measures to ensure residents were free from accident hazards. Under Section 483.25 of the Federal Code, nursing homes must provide residents with an environment as free as possible from accident hazards, with adequate supervision to protect residents from accidents. A November 2016 citation found that Waterview Nursing Care Center failed to keep two resident units as free as possible from accident hazards. An inspector specifically found disposable razors on window sills, a hydrogen peroxide bottle “without a cap” in a resident shower, a loose handrail in a resident shower, “unattended mop basins… with containers of chemical cleaners attached to the basins” in an open room, and a partially opened door on a porter’s closet containing chemical cleaners. The citation states that these deficiencies 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.
