Kentucky Injury Law Blog

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has unveiled a new online rating system that allows people to compare the quality of care they can get at nearly 16,000 US nursing homes throughout the United States. The 5-star ranking system, which rates the nursing care facilities using data about nurse staffing, quality measures, and health inspections, was developed to help prospective residents and their families choose the right long-term care facility. For example, among Lexington nursing homes (within 25 miles of the city):

1 Star:
• Cambridge Place
• Winchester Centre for Health & Rehabilitation
• Richmond Place Rehabilitation and Health Center

5 Stars:
• Homestead Nursing Center

According to the new rating system, 23% of Kentucky’s 287 nursing homes that qualify for Medicare and Medicaid Services received a 1-star ranking for “much below average,” while just 10% of Kentucky nursing homes received 5-stars.

While Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform President Bernie Vonderheid called the new system “historical” and a way to monitor nursing homes, Kentucky Association of Homes and Services for the Aged CEO and President Tim Veno cautioned that the system has its flaws and could sometimes prove misleading. For example, Veno says nursing homes that have more seriously ill patients might receive a lower ranking.

The new rating system is also providing a new nursing standard that calls for every resident to receive at least 4.08 hours of nursing care every day. Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass Inc. programs and services director Sherry Culp, however, says that it will take awhile to determine how well the system actually reflects what goes on in the nursing homes.

While the new rating system provides additional information for people deciding whether to admit a loved one to a particular Kentucky nursing home, there is still no substitute for actually visiting a long-term care facility, examining the nursing home, and talking to nursing home workers to make sure that a place is the right fit. Nursing home abuse and nursing neglect continue to be problems in a number of Kentucky nursing homes, and it is important for family members to do everything they can to make sure their sick or elderly loved one isn’t placed in a home where they will get hurt or be ignored.

Medicare rates nursing homes, Kentucky.com, December 19, 2008

Find and Compare Nursing Homes, Medicare.gov

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass Inc.

Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform

Continue reading "23% of Kentucky Nursing Homes Rated “Much Below Average” by Medicare’s New Ranking System" »

In Kentucky’s Madison District Court, a former nursing home aide pleaded not guilty to charges she neglected an elderly resident. Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle was charged with wanton endangerment for the lack of care that Armeda Thomas received while staying at the Madison Manor Nursing Home in Richmond.

Thomas’s family members hid a camera in her room after they found 36 unexplained bruises on her body. The video footage showed nursing workers physically and verbally abusing the elderly resident, as well as neglecting to clean and feed her. Thomas has Alzheimer’s.

While VanWinkle is not accused of physically assaulting Thomas, the charges against the 25-year-old stem from an incident when a nursing danced in front of the 84-year-old resident while another nursing worker held her arms. The former nursing aide was also accused of failing to use a gait belt when moving Thomas from her bed to a wheelchair.

Nine nursing aides were fired after the alleged Kentucky nursing home abuse incidents were reported. VanWinkle, however, says that she took good care of Thomas and was shocked when she was let go from her job. She says that people misunderstood what they were seeing when they watched the footage of someone dancing and singing in front of the elderly resident. At the time the alleged abuse incident occurred, VanWinkle had not yet received her certified nursing assistant’s license.

Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services has cited Madison Manor over the alleged nursing abuse incidents. The Kentucky nursing home says it has taken action to remedy the problems.

Former nursing home aide pleads not guilty, Richmond Register, December 23, 2008

Former Richmond nursing home aide is charged with neglect, Kentucky.com, December 19, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Read Madison Manor's Statement About the Abuse Charge Filed Against VanWinkle, December 18, 2008 (PDF)

Madison Manor

Continue reading "Kentucky Nursing Home Neglect: Former Madison Manor Aide Charged with Wanton Neglect in Resident Abuse Case Shot on Video" »

Video footage shot at a Richmond, Kentucky nursing home shows workers abusing and neglecting an 84-year-old resident. The video was recorded on a camera hidden in the bedroom of Armeda Thomas, an Alzheimer’s resident at Madison Manor.

Family members had placed the camera in the elderly woman’s room after they noticed that she had multiple “handprint” bruises all over her body and nursing home staffers couldn’t properly explain what happened. In fact, the workers claimed the bruises occurred because Thomas was “combative.”

The footage shows nursing home staffers taunting and physically abusing Thomas, as well as neglecting to clean and feed her. The nursing home abuse and neglect incidents were shot on videotape between August 17 and September 8, 2008.

On video, nursing home staffers are seen manhandling and harassing Thomas, including pulling her out of bed by her neck and wrists. X-rays taken of Thomas in September showed that she had fractures in her lumbar vertebrae.

Documents were also reportedly falsified to show that the 84-year-old had been fed. In two instances, it was the nursing home assistant who ate Thomas’s food. The elderly resident reportedly lost 19 pounds in two weeks.

Now, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office is considering filing criminal charges against the Richmond home for nursing home abuse and neglect. Since the criminal probe began, evidence has surfaced indicating that at least 17 other nursing home residents with cognitive impairments had sustained “injuries of unknown origin” and that Madison Manor failed to properly investigate the causes of their injuries.

Madison Manor has been issued a Type-A citation, which is the most serious citation that the inspector general's office of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services can give a nursing home. Although the issues for which the citation was given were reportedly corrected last month, some deficiencies still exist.

Thomas, who was removed from the home immediately after the abuse was discovered, died from Alzheimer’s-related complications on November 7.

Videotape at nursing home records abuse, Kentucky.com, November 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Madison Manor

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Continue reading "Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse Evidence Shot Using Family’s Hidden Camera " »

In Kentucky, Moses Young, the Ex-Assistant Director of Nursing Home Regulation at the State Inspector General’s Office, was reportedly fired following allegations that he had an improper relationship with the owner of the Garrard Convalescent Home in Northern Kentucky.

Among the allegations, Young is accused of living—possibly rent-free—in a house owned by Ralph Stacey, Jr., the operator/owner of the nursing home. The State Attorney General and the FBI are currently conducting a criminal investigation to determine whether criminal charges need to be filed against Young.

The Garrard Convalescent Home has come under fire following 23 complaints in the last 4 years accusing the care residence of nursing home neglect, abuse, and problems with bedbugs. Records show that state investigators looked into the complaints and the home was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Now, however, there is concern that Young’s relationship with Stacey may have compromised the investigations, as well as the safety and care of the residents residing at the home.

Kentucky’s Inspector General fired Young in May for possible conflicts of interest and using his position with the state for financial profit. While an investigation confirmed that Young had been residing in a home that belonged to Stacey in Griffin Gate, a gated subdivision in Lexington, the former regulator reportedly could not provide evidence documenting that he has paid Stacey rent.

Documentation also showed that Young called Stacey 427 times over an 18-month period using a state government cellular phone—usually on days when investigators were about to conduct surprise inspections following the complaints.

Since the probe into Young’s relationship with Stacey, the nursing home has been given a Type A citation for jeopardizing the safety of residents. Kentucky is recommending that the Garrard Nursing Home be slapped with a $500,000 fine.

Last week, Young appealed the decision terminating him from the post. He has denied all allegations.

If you are the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect at a Kentucky nursing home, contact our Louisville nursing home abuse lawyers for your free consultation.

State nursing home inspector fired, Kentucky.com, July 19, 2008

Ex-chief of nursing home inspections appeals firing, Courier-Journal.com, July 19, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Garrard Convalescent Home

How to Protect Nursing Home Residents (PDF), Commonwealth of Kentucky

Continue reading "Kentucky’s Former #2 Nursing Home Regulator May Have Lived Rent Free in Home that Belonged to Nursing Home Operator" »