Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Nursing homes that serve primarily Hispanic residents provide a lower quality of care compared to nursing homes that cater to a mostly white clientele, according to a Brown University study. The research, which was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, looked at the rate of bedsores at nursing homes in select states and found that residents in nursing homes with a larger concentration of Hispanic residents reported having more bedsores than nursing homes with lower concentrations of Hispanic residents.

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Latinos who worked in California and Texas nursing homes owned by Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. who claimed they were punished for speaking Spanish while at work will receive up to $450,000, free English classes and other compensation under a consent decree from a class-action lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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California nursing homes are taking advantage of last year’s cuts to the state’s ombudsman program and slacking off on responsibilities to their patients, according to Ombudsman Services of Northern California. The organization lost two-thirds of its staff when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed $3.8 million in funding for long-term care ombudsman programs last year, according to News 10.

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The choking death of a Fresno, California nursing home resident has resulted in the severest penalty under California state law and an $80,000 fine against the home for inadequate care, according to the Fresno Bee.

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A new bill introduced in the California legislature by lawmaker and longtime nursing home rights advocate Mike Feuer aims to reverse Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of $3.8 million in funding for local the Long Term Care Ombudsman programs late last year, according to the California Chronicle. Ombudsmen provide a valuable service to the elderly. Not only do they serve as advocates to nursing home residents, they also investigate and resolve complaints and make unannounced visits to nursing homes to ensure residents’ needs are being met.

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Here’s a terrifying story that goes beyond comprehension. KGET-TV reports that three employees of a nursing home in Kern County, California were arrested this week for forcibly administrating psychotropic drugs to patients to make them easier to control.

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There was plenty of money for Margaret Palko’s long-term care – nearly $375,000 in her bank account. The 88-year-old woman relied on Elizabeth DeLeon to provide her care, giving her power of attorney over her finances in 2005. Six months later, Palko’s Alzheimer’s Disease had progressed to the point that she was admitted to Schuylkill Center Nursing Home in the Norwegian Township, according to the Morning Call.

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Rita Kittower had no choice but to put her husband of nearly 50 years into an assisted living facility after he suffered a major stroke that diminished his memory and left him unable to care for himself. Mrs. Kittower paid $75,000 a year to the upscale Silverado Senior Living facility in Calabasas, Calif., to provide her husband Elmore with the best possible care, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When he died, staff told her Mr. Kittower died peacefully in his sleep.

But when Mrs. Kittower received a call the day after burying her husband from an employee at Silverado, she was devastated. The caller said that shortly before Kittower died she saw a fellow employee punch Kittower’s husband’s face and wrap a towel around his head as if to suffocate him.

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John may have been 92 years old and living in a nursing home, but he was no fool. When doctors discovered gangrene on the toes of his left foot, they ordered the toes be removed to save his life. Despite John’s protests, the person assigned to be his power of attorney scheduled the surgery anyway.

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Nurse Haydee Parungano was an independent contractor who traveled Southern California to provide nursing services to Medicare patients. Her records show she worked every day between April 1, 2002, and August 31, 2003, including all weekends and holidays, averaging 20 visits per day.

During this time span, there were 60 days that Parungano claimed to have seen more than 32 patients – a feat that, at 45 minutes per patient, would take more than 24 hours to accomplish.

Last year, Parungano was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for her role in a health care fraud scheme that ultimately cost Medicare more than $3 million.

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