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NEW YORK---Eighteen nursing homes from all areas of the state, including three facilities owned by the Eden Park Health Care Center Inc. in Albany, Poughkeepsie and Utica, have been fined for giving poor care.
The Eden Park Health Care Center facility in Utica was fined twice, one for violations in a 2004 survey and another in 2005.
This includes both state fines and federal civil money penalties.
The fines range from a low of $500 to a high of $68,835.
The Long Term Care Community Coalition reports quarterly on all enforcement actions, including fines, taken against nursing homes by the New York State Department of Health and the federal government every three months in its newsletters and on its websites, www.ltcc.org and www.nursinghome411.org.
The goal of these reports is to provide the public with the latest information on nursing home inspections.
In addition to implementing fines, 12 other homes including the Eden Park Health Care Center in Cobleskill were cited for giving substandard care, putting their residents in jeopardy or causing resident harm. These homes are being required by the state to conduct specific activities to improve care such as hiring consultants, giving in-service training to their staff and/or have a state monitor their care. As of Dec. 15, all 12 were not being allowed to admit any new Medicaid or Medicare residents until care issues are corrected.
In addition to Eden Park at Cobleskill, the other facilities are Albany County Nursing Home, Albany; Brookhaven Rehab and HCC, Queens; Daughters of Jacob Geriatric Center, Bronx, two citations; Evergreen valley, Plattsburgh; Harbour Health Multicare Center for Living, Buffalo; LeRoy Village Green RHCF, LeRoy; Nassau Extended Care, Hempstead; Northwoods Rehab and ECF-Hilltop, Niskayuna; Orchard Manor Inc., Medina; Uihein Mercy Center, Lake Placid and Whittier Rehab and Skilled Nursing, Ghent.
Civil money penalties were assessed against three nursing homes for the quarter of Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, 2006. These were Albany County Nursing Home in Albany for a survey on May 8, 2006, $7,500; Dr. William O. Benenson Rehabilitation Center in Queens for surveys on June 22 and July 26, 2006, $68,835 and Livingston County Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Mount Morris for surveys on July 18 and Aug. 3, 2006, $6,565.
These are federal sanctions against nursing homes that fail to comply with quality care requirements.
The complete list of nursing homes and the penalties assessed can be found
http://www.ltccc.org/enforcements/documents/enforcements_spring07.pdf
In addition, this latest report makes public the fact that the federal government reduced a fine at the Riverview nursing home in Owego from $104,500 to $650 without even discussing it with the state. This massive reduction in the fine was not related to quality improvements but, rather, because the home claimed financial hardship.
According to Cynthia Rudder, LTCCC Special Projects Director, "While we don't want to see homes forced into closure when a problem can be mediated, we question whether a reduction of this magnitude is an effective way to address serious problems. If a home has improved, and can demonstrate financial hardship, why not consider allowing them to make payments over time? To reduce a fine by this magnitude renders it meaningless, and sends a signal to providers that they can get away with a slap on the wrist when residents are endangered."
LTCCC believes that consumers should be aware of problems at the home they or their loved ones live in or homes they are thinking of moving to. This information can be used to assess safety and to ask questions of staff and administration: why have these problems occurred and what is being done to correct them.
LTCCC is a coalition of over two dozen organizations that works to protect the rights and welfare of long term care consumers in all settings, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities and managed long term care, by strengthening regulation, surveillance and enforcement. For more information on this and other long term care issues. www.ltccc.org 1-29-07
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© 2007 North
Country Gazette
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