North Country Gazette

Special Report: Eden Park Nursing Home Residents At Risk

Posted on Sunday, 13 of May , 2007 at 10:42 pm

Four aides to care for 40 patients on the floor. 

The person who is supposed to be dispensing the meds is thumbing through a catalog, except when she’s chatting with the food preparation person who seems to have nothing to do.

It’s past noon and the beds of many of the residents are still unmade or unchanged.  One resident is wheeling himself up and down the hallway, trying to get assistance,  asking to be taken to the bathroom but being ignored. Other residents unable to help themselves are sliding out of their wheelchairs or sitting uncomfortably off to one side, ignored by the aides.

There’s lots of vacant spaces in the parking lot of Eden Park Health Care Center on Warren St. in Glens Falls on Mother’s Day, indicating not only the lack of staffing at the facility but the lack of care. That’s a normal state of affairs for the weekend, not just because it’s Mother’s Day.

The plants in the residents’ rooms are dying, thirsty for water because no one will take the time to water them, garbage cans are full.  No sign of any tissue boxes. Novelties, lotions, stuffed animals and even clothing are disappearing from the residents’ rooms and the staff not only can’t provide an explanation when asked where the items are but can’t produce the missing items.

One resident has developed heavy congestion since the last visit by a family member, bronchitis no doubt but yet she is positioned so that she’s getting a consistent blast of cold air on her back.  Other residents are going in and out of the hospital because of dehydration. 

Administration won’t provide family members with health care information concerning their loved ones nor financial information nor will the nursing home administrator, Lloyd Cote discuss any concerns with family members.

Eden Park in Glens Falls is one of five nursing home facilities owned by Eden Park Health Services in Albany with Scott Hoffman as the chief executive officer. Others are in Catskill, Poughkeepsie, Utica and Cobleskill but the Cobleskill one will soon close. The corporation has previously closed facilities in Albany and Hudson. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102906EdenParkCorrections.html

Eden Park has a history of poor care.  In enforcement actions announced this spring for the last quarter of 2006, three Eden Park facilities were cited. The Cobleskill facility was cited for giving substandard care, putting their residents in jeopardy or causing resident harm.  As of Dec. 15, the Cobleskill facility was not allowed to admit any new Medicaid or Medicare residents until the care issues were corrected.

Last April, it was announced that the state Department of Health was investigating the 125-bed Eden Park Health Care Center in Cobleskill, looking into patient care issues. On March 3, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services levied a civil penalty of $43,622 against the facility.

During the investigation of the facility earlier this year, the state had found that the Cobleskill facility was in “immediate jeopardy” based on a Medicare and Medicaid survey of the home.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 11 deficiencies found at the Cobleskill home during the most recent health inspection, more than twice the average of five for nursing homes statewide. A rating of immediate jeopardy indicates that a facility has deficiencies that have caused or are likely to cause serious harm, injury, impairment or death if not immediately rectified.

Those deficiencies, which included quality-of-care problems and administration issues, have supposedly been corrected. In addition to the state-imposed penalties, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services imposed a civil penalty of $5,050 per day on Eden Park and denied payment for new admissions. Medicare and Medicaid patients in the home weren’t forced to leave but the home didn’t receive payment for new admissions while it remained in “immediate jeopardy”.

The Eden Park facilities in Cobleskill, Utica and Poughkeepsie are on the National Nursing Home Watch List for causing immediate harm to a patient or subjecting patients to immediate jeopardy. http://www.memberofthefamily.net/ny.htm  So far, Glens Falls has escaped this list but it seems that it may be only a matter of time. http://www.memberofthefamily.net/usmap.htm

In January, Eden Park had agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment at the Cobleskill home.  The lawsuit which had been filed in U.S. District Court in September 2005 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that female employees were subjected to “offensive propositioning and degrading comments regarding oral sex, masturbation and their physical appearance”, according to court files which indicated the alleged harassment dated back to 2000.Although agreeing to pay $250,000, Eden Park denied that any harassment had occurred, issuing a statement that “Eden Park has been committed to a harassment-free workplace and has policies and procedures for employees to handle these matters”.

By the end of April, the state Department of Health had announced that Eden Park’s facility in Cobleskill, the only skilled nursing home in Schoharie County, was closing at the end of July.  Hoffman said they had been unsuccessful at trying to sell the Cobleskill facility but had allegedly sold the other facilities owned by the corporation. Hoffman admitted to having a staffing problem and by early April, the Cobleskill home which had a capacity of 125 residents had downsized to 90 beds.

DOH claimed that the repetitive violations at Eden Park had nothing to do with its closure.

Hoffman said that they had tried to find a buyer for the 40-year building for the past year, even hiring a national real estate firm.

The buyer of Eden Park’s four other nursing homes and an assisted living center in Troy named Heartwood Terrace is said to be a Lynbrook, LI based group operating under the name of Marvin Ostreicher.

Deficiencies in quality of care, residents’ rights and physical environment earned the Glens Falls facility an overall rating of needed corrections in the last inspection available through DOH.

Inspectors determined that the Glens Falls home failed to hire only people who have no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents, failed to report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents; failed to give professional services that follow each resident’s written are plan and failed to make sure that a working call system is available in each resident’s room or bathroom and bathing area.  http://nursinghomes.nyhealth.gov/browse_view.php?pfi=1010  and www.medicare.gov

Information concerning nursing home abuse can be found at the website www.elderly-abuse.com which is maintained by the New York law firm Goldberg, Persky & White, P.C.

The website lists signs and symptoms of abuse.

Visible injuries are, naturally, the type that you will pick up on right away. Examples are broken bones, cuts, scars, and bed sores (pressure ulcers). If you see signs of these types of injuries, you need to be diligent in getting to the bottom of the problem.

Ask the resident what happened to cause the injury but don’t stop there. The resident may be reluctant to tell you the truth because he or she is embarrassed or, perhaps because they have been intimidated into not telling the truth. Ask the attending nurse and assistant about the injury, see what the staff supervisor knows, question the attending physician and insist on inspecting the resident’s medical chart.

Neglect type injuries are more subtle and more difficult to see. These include insufficient food and water, insufficient bathing opportunities, failure to change the resident’s underclothes in a timely manner if using the toilet is an issue, failure to supply adequate bathing supplies such as shampoo and soap, failure to properly assist the resident who needs help bathing, eating, walking, etc, and verbal abuse.

Your loved one may be reluctant to talk about these issues, therefore you should keep your eyes and ears open for signs of neglect. Make sure the bathroom is clean, check for odors in the bed and on your loved one’s clothing, check the condition of the hair and nails to make sure they are clean. Pay attention to how your friend or relative reacts to you, ie; do they seem to be depressed, does someone who used to be talkative now sits around with nothing to say, has there been an unexplained weight loss? These types of signs are not definite indications of abuse, but they should cause you to investigate the situation carefully.

If you suspect your loved one has been abused or neglected, you should contact the nursing home administrator and tell them your concerns, contact the department in your state that regulates nursing homes and file a complaint and contact the police department in the municipality where the abuse occurred.  http://www.ltcombudsman.org/static_pages/ombudsmen_list.cfm#NewYork http://www.ombudsman.state.ny.us/

The website also lists the rights of nursing home residents.

–Residents have the right to be fully informed, of services and their charges; the rules and regulations of the nursing home; contact information for the State Ombudsman, State licensure office, and other advocacy groups; and state survey reports of the nursing home along with the home’s plans for corrections. Residents have the right to be communicated to daily in their language and provided assistance for sensory impairments.

–Residents have the right to participate in their own care, which includes both receiving adequate and appropriate care and also the right to refuse that care. They have the right to be involved in the planning of their care, should be informed of any changes in treatment or condition, and the right to review their medical records.

–Residents have the right to make independent choices. This includes making independent decisions on clothing and spending free time, choosing their own activities inside and outside the nursing home, participating in a resident council, and selecting their own physician. The nursing home must make reasonable accommodations of a resident’s needs and preferences.

–Residents have the right to privacy and confidentiality, including private and unrestricted communication with persons of their choice, private treatment and care of personal needs, and confidentiality regarding medical, personal, and financial affairs.

–Residents have the right to dignity, respect, and freedom. Residents have the right to be treated with consideration, respect and dignity, to be free from abuse, both mental and physical, corporal punishment, involuntary seclusion, and physical and chemical restraints. Residents have the right to self-determination.

–Residents have the right to security of possessions. This includes managing their own financial affairs and not being charged for services covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Residents have the right to file a complaint if the nursing home is managing their financial affairs in an abusive, neglectful, or inappropriate way.

–Residents have rights during transfers and discharges, including the right to a 30-day notice and a safe transfer or discharge with sufficient preparation by the nursing home. Residents also have a right to remain in the nursing facility unless the transfer or discharge is deemed necessary to meet the resident’s welfare, required to protect other residents and staff, or a facility charge has not been provided after reasonable notice.

–Residents have the right to complain without fear of reprisal and the right to prompt efforts by the nursing home to resolve grievances.

–A resident has the right to visits. A resident has the right to visits from their personal physician, representatives from the health department and ombudsman programs, and their relatives. Residents also have the right to reasonable visits by organizations or individuals providing health, social, legal, or other services.   5-13-07