The nursing home was cited for failing to have a comprehensive care plan for treating the patient’s broken leg, which resulted in an “infestation of maggots,” according to the inspection report. The man’s injury should have been treated every three days but the nursing home was only able to document weekly treatments.

In April 2008, just four months before the above-mentioned incident report, inspectors cited the home for a series of isolated events that it said put the health or safety of residents in immediate jeopardy. The nursing home was put on a watch list and given just one star out of five in the government’s five-star rating system to help consumers gauge the quality of care provided by nursing homes. The citations apparently did little to improve quality of care at the home.

Azalea Court is appealing, arguing that the home is cooperating fully with regulatory agencies. “Quality care is our highest priority,” reads a statement issued by the nursing home. “Government ratings are a valuable tool, but they’re no substitute for visiting a facility and meeting the staff.”

The $16,000 fine against Azalea Court is the largest fine waged against any health care provider or facility in Palm Beach County this year.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Maggots found crawling out of nursing home resident’s leg cast

Earlier this week the sisters were arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of one count of operating and/or maintaining an assisted living facility without a license. If convicted, the sisters each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to All Headline News.

The arrests followed an investigation by law enforcement and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team also was involved in the investigation.

Earlier this year, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration sent notices to each of the homes requiring the facilities to close. The women stand trial in the Judicial Curcuit Court on April 17th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

She also gave authorities a false name, for there was a warrant out for her arrest after she failed to appear in court two weeks ago on a charge of driving with a suspended license. She was also on probation after pleading guilty to a Jan. 6 marijuana possession charge.

Deputies placed Peay under arrest and charged her with two counts of neglect of a disabled person. They also arrested her for the outstanding warrants and for giving a false name to a law enforcement officers. She is being held in Manatee County jail on $12,120 bond.

The nursing home administrator said Peay had worked for the company for several years, but that she was fired over the incident. Residents of North West Care Center are routinely taken on field trips to sporting events or to the theater; however, employees must follow strict guidelines, such as never leaving a resident alone. As a safety measure, North West Care Center is conducting training sessions for all staff.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves patients alone at ball game

While she was away, a 47-year-old disabled woman had a heat stroke and seizures. She was found around 5 a.m. by another resident who called 911. The woman who had fallen ill was rushed to the hospital, according to the story.

An investigation found that the air conditioning had been out for days at the facility and the temperature in the room in which the woman was found was extremely high, according to an affidavit.

A housekeeper at the home told investigators that Shaw said she was headed to the beach. Another report said she was heading home to get medication. Regardless, she never returned. One resident said that Shaw had played the disappearing act before in her 10-year career at Personal Care II.

An investigation into Shaw’s past revealed she had a history of mental health problems, including bipolar disorder. She, too, had been a resident in an assisted living facility for a decade. She also has previous convictions, one in 1991 for retail theft and 1994 for assault and battery.

Shaw was arrested and faces up to five years in prison for a charge of neglect of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves 16 unattended at assisted living facility

But when Fitzgerald returned 2 ½ hours later, the facility was overrun with firefighters and deputies, according to the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times.

While Fitzgerald was out of the building to handle what she later told police was a home health crisis, an 88-year-old woman fell on the bathroom floor. Unable to get up, she asked a fellow resident to call 911. When medical personnel from Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue arrived, they discovered there were no staff members on site and called the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office to investigate.

When Fitzgerald returned, she willingly told police she had left a resident in charge. Police then found Vicodin, a controlled substance, in her pocket. Fitzgerald, 60, was booked on one count of abuse and neglect of the elderly, a second-degree felony and one count of possession of a controlled substance, also a felony. Police say other charges may follow. Fitzgerald was jailed with a $12,000 bail.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nurse arrested for leaving 21 assisted living residents alone

Medicaid, which is the state-federal body that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor, pays nursing homes millions each year for treating patients who qualify for Medicaid. Advocates for the elderly contend that nursing homes have successfully lobbied politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult, thus forcing these older or disabled individuals to move into nursing homes when they are independent enough to live at home, with relatives or in assisted living.

Individuals who qualify for Medicare and who become sick or disabled have no trouble qualifying for nursing homes, but are finding it far more difficult to receive Medicaid-supported services, the report states.

Advocates cite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case known as the Olmstead decision, in which the court ruled that the unjustified placement of individuals in institutions such as nursing homes amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision stated that states must provide community care if it can be accommodated and would be appropriate.

“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” says an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live

Today, the Miami Herald reported that three state agencies and Miami-Dade police were investigating how second-degree burns were found on a 12-year-old girl living in the Florida Club Care Center. The girl, who is a foster child, suffers from severe cerebral palsy, is unable to communicate and is completely dependent on others for activities of daily living. The burns were found on her hand and thigh, according to the Child Protection Team, a group of University of Miami doctors and nurses.

The case also is being investigated by the Department of Children & Families (DCF) and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). AHCA, a nursing home regulator, claims there was no evidence of mistreatment toward the girl.

In a letter to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Child Protection Team representative and pediatrician Michael D. Strong wrote “We fear that the potential risk for further harm of the other residents in the nursing home facility is high and that little to nothing is being done in response.”

However, a recent AHCA inspection of the facility showed high marks for quality of care and quality of life as well as nutrition and hydration, patient dignity, the prevention of pressure sores, and limiting the use of physical restraints.

For now, the DCF investigation into the girl’s injuries remains open.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home investigated for harming 12-year-old foster child

Anthony Vincent Digiannurio was eventually taken to the Florida Hospital DeLand by ambulance, where he was initially admitted for respiratory problems. However, after examining him, hospital staff were shocked to find he had an infected breathing tube, a partially inserted catheter, bed sores, and maggots in one of his eyes.

His daughter, Laura, expressed distress and disgust at her father’s treatment, saying she had placed all her faith in the University Center West nursing facility to provide care and comfort for her dad. She planned to move him to a veteran’s nursing home upon his recovery.

Source: elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2007/11/purple-heart-veteran-nursing-home-with.html

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › decorated veteran abuse victim