The lawsuit claims that Skilled Healthcare Group issued a rule that Latinos must speak English only, even with other Spanish-speaking residents at the home, while on nursing home grounds, and during breaks. However, that rule was not enforced with individuals from other ethnic groups, such as Tagalog. The Latino workers also claimed they suffered from other forms of harassment from nursing home management.

The nursing home group disputed the allegations, saying it settled the lawsuit to avoid an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit.

One Latino nursing aide said a Spanish-speaking resident told her in Spanish that she needed to use the bathroom. When the aide responded in Spanish she was told by a supervisor that she would be disciplined and possibly fired if she continued to speak Spanish while at work.

The conscent decree requires Skilled Healthcare Group to divide $180,000 among 53 workers as well as offer them English classes. Upon completion of the classes, each worker will receive an additional $2,500. The nursing home group also will provide antidiscrimination training. The group was also instructed to hire a monitor to ensure the home complies with federal law.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home group must pay Latino workers in discrimination lawsuit

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Apparently the new rule slid under most radars, but the results have left those pursing lawsuits fighting a more difficult battle than before to prove their cases against nursing homes. The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, which helps prevent them from getting involved in private litigation without approval from the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Litigants now must jump through more hoops – like obtaining court orders – to get information that was once much easier to obtain, such as inspection reports. Those inspection reports can often reveal signs of abuse or neglect that the average person may not be aware of.

Proponents of the ruling say that it was necessary in order to hire new contractors to carry out activities like federal payments to providers, perform audits and oversee certification and surveys of nursing homes.

A representative from the American Health Care Association says the organization also is having difficulty getting details on how state inspectors determine penalties and citations. But, it seems, it’s the victims of potential abuse and neglect who will suffer the most.

According to a representative with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles, “This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors. … Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New rule makes obtaining nursing home information more difficult

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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.

After an 11-month investigation which included the exhuming of Mr. Kittower’s body, homicide detectives say they have evidence that 20-year-old Cesar Ulloa, who worked in the home, physically assaulted Mr. Kittower in the minutes before and the months prior to his death. Ulloa is being held on $1 million bond and could face charges of elder abuse and torture.

Police also arrested Luis Arrelleano, 21, Juan Soto, 21, and Maria Gomez, 34. The family plans to offer a $10,000 reward for more information about abuse at Silverado.

Silverado officials have not been fully cooperating with the family nor with investigators. Facility officials say that an internal investigation concluded that staff had done nothing improper nor had any connection to Kittower’s death.

Meanwhile, police investigations continue.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California police investigate elder abuse at assisted living facility

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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.

Though Parungano sits in prison, she remains a nurse in good standing in the State of California and is able to work in any hospital, medical clinic or nursing home, according to a Los Angeles Times and ProPublica investigation. The investigation found more than 100 recent cases where the state didn’t pull or restrict licenses until nurses had three or more criminal convictions. In some cases, these crimes include sex offenses and attempted murder.

California has the largest number of registered nurses in the nation. Hospitals and clinics turn to the California Board of Registered Nursing Web site to check job applicants for any accusations and disciplinary actions, which are posted on the site for the public to review. However, according to the report, the screening process is flawed.

Beginning in 1990, nurses had to submit fingerprints so that the nursing board would be flagged by law enforcement when a registered nurse was arrested. The 146,000 nurses hired prior to 1990 have not had to submit fingerprints. The board, which requires nurses to apply for licenses every two years, also doesn’t ask nurses to volunteer information about criminal convictions that occurred since the last time they applied.

Meanwhile, Parungano sits in a prison, looking forward to the day when she walks free and, possibly, works as a nurse again.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nurses convicted of crimes still in good standing in California

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The Times quoted the attorney in the case as saying, “These facilities are giving out brochures about this wonderful, superlative care — one need only look at their regulatory history . . . and see that it’s just not true.” Approximately 4,000 people joined the suit. Contrary to the company’s promotional materials, state regulators found Sun-Mar homes were sorely understaffed and that employees were insufficiently trained.

The attorney laid part of the blame on the California Department of Public Health for not carefully overseeing the facilities, according to the newspaper report. State governments oversee the licensing of nursing homes in each state.

According to the California Public Health Department (CDPH), the department’s responsibility includes overseeing the certification of nursing assistants and licensing of nursing home administrators.

The lawsuit mentioned other facilities across the region where state regulators noted deficiencies. “If everyone had known the regulatory history of these facilities they would not have put their mother or father in them,” the attorney is quoted as saying.

As part of the settlement, a monitor chosen by the plaintiffs’ attorney will inspect five Sun-Mar facilities at random each quarter.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California nursing home settles lawsuit

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