There are many codes and requirements that nursing homes need to meet in order to keep their license to operate. They are monitored by the local department of health in order to regulate the facilities and make sure they are keeping the safety and health of their residents their first priority. As nursing home abuse lawyers , we want to remind you when looking for a facility for yourself or a loved one to research past citations.
Columbus Manor Residential Care Home has been cited by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services for not complying with 11 federal requirements that nursing homes must obey in order to participate in the Medicare program. Based on inspection surveys in April, July and August, violations were found that involved resident rights, quality of life issues and the physical environment of the facility. In July they found a pool of standing water in the boiler room and laundry room with an extension cord plugged into an outlet and an electric fan going through the puddle. They also found ten pounds of non-dated chicken, ground beef and other food. In August the facility was cited for failing to supervise a resident, who was a registered sex offender with history of sexual aggression, after he left the home without permission and was hit by a car. The resident was admitted to the hospital for a knee fracture. The facility then failed to create a care plan to prevent an incident like this from happening again.
Facility Fixes Problems and Avoids Serious Punishments
Columbus Manor would have been removed from the federal Medicaid program if the health citations were not rectified by October. But after the August survey, the nursing home submitted their plan for how the violations will be corrected and the health department confirmed that the improvements were made and waived the 11 citations. According to Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, it is not uncommon that deficiencies are waived once the facility has corrected the problems. She said “Sometimes it’s just trying to train the staff of a new policy written – some of those things are easily correctable.” But according to Elce Redmond, an organizer for the South Austin Community Coalition, Columbus Manor has had “massive problems” for the past few years and “it’s a shame residents live the way they do.” It is a shame that it takes the government stepping in and threatening these facilities for them to actually fix such obvious problems.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If you have witnessed any questionable conditions or abusive behavior in a nursing home, directed towards your loved one or even another resident, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Kelvin Washington, 47, who works as an administrator at a Sugar Land nursing home in Texas, was arrested on August 4, 2011 and is being charged with conspiracy, health care fraud and violations of the anti-kickback statute. He is being accused of creating a plan where he billed federal health care programs for ambulance transport and received payments totaling approximately $20,000 for referring the dialysis patients to a Houston ambulance transport service between 2003 and 2007. He allegedly conspired to have unknowing doctors sign transport prescriptions for patients who were never even admitted to the nursing home. Medicare and Medicaid were billed almost $1 million in false health care claims. The maximum penalties for a violation of the health care fraud statue in Texas is a maximum of 10 years in prison. The maximum sentence for a violation of the conspiracy statue or the anti-kickback statute is five years. Each of the 10 counts charged also carry a maximum $250,000 fine as punishment upon conviction.
According to the complaint, from 2004 to 2008, many of the facility’s residents suffered injuries, and five patients died during that time. The poor care in question involved failure to follow physicians orders, failure to treat wounds and bed sores, failure to update resident care plans, and failure to monitor the blood sugar levels of diabetic residents.
Nursing homes are often fined for various citations of 
The Avista Healthcare nursing home, located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey was routinely inspected twice between December 2008 and November 2010. During this time period, 10 separate deficiencies were cited. The nursing home was cited for failing to properly procure and serve food in a sanitary manner. As we have often highlighted in our previous posts, proper nutrition is imperative for good health and bedsore prevention in nursing home patients. 
The Manhattan View Nursing Home in Union City, New Jersey is a below average facility with 127 long term care beds. This is a for profit, corporately owned nursing home as well. Between December 2008 and November 2010, this Hudson County nursing home was routinely inspected 2 times. These inspections are conducted by the 
Burlington Woods is a nursing home with 227 long term beds. It is also a for profit, corporately owned and run nursing home. According to the 
As attorneys with expertise in the area of 
The nursing home that we will discuss today is the Cumberland Manor nursing home located in Bridgeton, New Jersey. This nursing is a county government owned facility with 196 long term care beds. Medicare’s nursing home compare system gave this facility 2 out of 5 stars. This rating indicates that Cumberland Manor is a below average nursing home. 
Continuing our reports on average to low quality nursing homes in New Jersey, we have located a home in Union County with a well below average rating, according to the