Nursing home resident found dead outside of the nursing home

The Baltimore Examiner carried a story today about a nursing home resident in Missouri who was found dead in her wheelchair outside of the facility on Christmas Eve.  According to the authorities the woman'd death will be classified as "unnatural" and "weather related".  Her family said that she did not suffer from dementia and would need help to get in her wheelchair and outside of the facility.  The nursing home, Northgate Park, has a 1 star overall rating (out of 5) by Medicare.  It is impossible to understand how this could happen to a patient who was so vulnerable and in need of assistance and supervision.  It also emphasizes the importance of gathering as much information as possible about any nursing home that you or someone in your family may need to use.  A great place to start is the Medicare website, Nursing Home Compare.  I see problems like this frequently in my Nursing Home Abuse practice.  If you think that a loved one has suffered from negligence or abuse in a nursing home call me for a free consultation.

Deficiencies Higher at For-Profit Nursing Homes

I just read a very troubling report from the Inspector General for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about deficiencies in nursing homes nationwide.  Any nursing home that accepts Medicare or Medicaid patients must meet Federal standards and be inspected at least every 15 months for compliance with those standards.  If the nursing home fails to meet one or more standard, a deficiency is issued.  In each of the past three years more than 91% of the nursing homes surveyed received deficiencies.  Between 2005 and 2007 the average number of deficiencies per nursing home increased more than 10% from 6.4 to 7.0.  In each of the past three years for-profit have higher percentage of deficiency then not-for-profit or government.  In addition, for-profit nursing homes had a higher average number of deficiencies than either of the other two groups.  For example, in 2007 for-profit homes had an average 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for-profits had 5.7 and government homes had 6.3.  Of even greater concern is the nature of the deficiencies.  The most commonly cited deficiencies for all nursing home over the past three years were quality of care, resident assessment and quality of life.  A more alarming finding is that in 2007 nearly one in every five nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies which caused actual harm to a patient or placed the patient's life in immediate jeopardy.  These numbers are shocking.  Patients in nursing homes are totally vulnerable and at the mercy of their caregivers.  There is no excuse for injury or harm to a patient from a failure to meet these Federal standards.  For more information about Nursing Home Neglect visit my website at www.SharonChristieLaw.com

Assisted Living Facility Resident Attacked and Killed by Another Resident

It is a shocking headline - one elderly person attacks and kills another elderly person in a health care facility. How can this happen? Is it an isolated event? Recent news stories, and my own experience in my law practice, show that this is NOT an isolated event. It happened recently in Howard County, Maryland. A resident of an Assisted Living Facility, 87 year old Earl Wilder, who suffered from Alzheimer's and was a former boxer, attacked 91 year old James Brown, punching him in the face. Mr. Brown died several days later from his injuries. In my law practice, I represent a former nursing home resident who was viciously attacked by another patient. Fortunately, my client survived. Experts predict that these incidents will only continue to grow as baby boomers age. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must take steps to protect their residents from these attacks. This will mean more staff and better staff training to recognize subtle signs of aggression and intervene before it is too late.