Violations put nursing center funds in jeopardy

Art Nadler

Tuesday, June 16, 1998 | 4:04 a.m.

A North Las Vegas nursing facility could lose its Medicaid contract if it receives another poor survey rating by the state.

The Cheyenne Residential and Nursing Center, 2860 E. Cheyenne Ave., has had numerous violations since February.

During last month's investigation, state Bureau of Licensure and Certification surveyors discovered that two patients had fallen when they couldn't reach call lights from their beds. One man fractured his nose and a woman broke her hip, investigators reported.

Nurses also were cited for picking up medications from the floor and using them and not giving baths as charted.

Other deficiencies in February included one elderly resident awakening to find someone sleeping in her bed with her, sightings of disorientated residents wandering in and out of other residents' rooms and a designated "happy hour" failing to have activities.

According to the Feb. 2-4 survey, when residents were asked what they were planning to do all day, they said, "Nothing."

Sonya King, a state health-facilities surveyor, said this is the third consecutive year that the center has been cited for substandard care.

The center is being fined $50 a day and is prohibited from taking new Medicaid patients. It could lose its Medicaid contract in August if conditions don't improve, King said.

Walter Hanson, administrator at the Cheyenne Residential and Nursing Center, would not comment on the facility's poor rating.

Integrated Health Services Inc., of Owings Mills, Md., manages the Cheyenne Residential and Nursing Center. Karen Janson, an IHS spokeswoman, said the facility has hired a new director of nursing and is revamping the nursing department. She declined to comment on past deficiencies but expressed confidence that the center would pass the next inspection.

As of May 20, the nursing facility had 218 patients. A good number of them, King said, were on Medicaid.